AHIS335

Study Guide to Readings, Second Half of Course

2009-10-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

The following guide is to encourage you to read all of the articles provided in your coursepack and recommended/required on-line texts. They are keyed into related exam slides so that you can organize your time and note-taking in an appropriate fashion. On-line texts are accessed through your library account, electronic resources/Art Full Text. The articles are easily found through searching on the author's name/key words in articles, and they can be downloaded to your computer for easier access. Most exist in PDF format, which allows you to view the associated images. Please let me know if you have any trouble downloading these articles.
Study Guide for Readings, Second Half, AHIS335
Chinese Ceramics (Slides 1 through 5)
Helen Langrick Lyman's "Chinese Blue and White Trade Ceramics" (in coursepack) is an extremely useful introduction to Chinese historical periods back to the Shang Dynasty (1532-1028 BCE). The essay discusses major religious and philosophical systems as well as foreign influences. Buddhism and Confucianism and their influences on ceramic forms, kiln sites and surface decoration techniques are explored clearly. This article is an invaluable introduction to Chinese ceramics as discussed in this section as it contains useful material for all Chinese slides (1 through 5)
Jessica Harrison-Hall—"Ding and other Whitewares of Northern China"—essential for slide #2
Michael Archer, "Oriental Influence on English Delftware" (coursepack) is also useful for slide 5, Ming Dynasty "Kraak" ware. It will be useful for tin glaze earthenware later in the course.
Abstracts of On-line texts and relationship to Study Slides for Chinese Ceramics:
Kevin Grealy "Three Old Kilns from the Jingdezhen Region, Jiangxi Province" (slides 4, 5)
Discusses "Long Yao" or "dragon" kiln (words mean same thing in Chinese) by examining a number still in operation in Jingdezhen. Excellent drawings, diagrams and photos of long kiln—explanation of how it works. Originated during Shang Dynasty 3000 years ago—ranges in size 25 m to over 80, all with similar cross-section 2.5 m. in height allows workmen to stand while loading kiln—catenary, or self-supporting arch. General incline about 30 degrees. Half below, half above ground—built on old kilns. Little need for chimney stack at end as entire kiln essentially chimney—stoke holes along the way. Constructed from raw clay that fires with kiln—eventually, severe reduction spalls kilns and they need to be rebuilt. Used today to fire enormous coiled and paddled pots for pickles, storage—but soon will be phased out. Fired with brushwood and split logs. Wares often fired in saggars, but inferior clay often used—shard piles littered with ruined saggars.
William Sargent, "'Send Us no more dragons': Chinese Porcelains for the Western Market."
This article is extremely useful for Slide 5, Ming Dynasty "Kraak" ware.
The writer discusses China Trade Porcelain, Chinese ceramic exports for the Western market. Topics covered include the first porcelains to reach Europe, early general market wares, the revolution in European ceramic technology, the importance of interior design on collecting Chinese export porcelain, Dehua ware, Yixing ware, special order wares, polychrome enamels, unfired clay figures, American market wares, the importance of Chinese porcelain in late 18th-century America, and collecting Chinese export porcelain in early America.

Japanese Ceramics (Slides 6 and 7)
Victor Harris, "Ash-Glazed Stonewares in Japan" (coursepack)—essential reading.
Abstracts, On-line articles on Japanese ceramics
Louise Allison Cort, "A Chinese Green Jar in Japan: Source of a New Color Aesthetic in the Momoyama Period."
Discusses Chinese jar in Freer collection—claims the colour separates Momoyama from earlier period in terms of aesthetics. Jars from southern China, Fujian province, Zhangzhou kilns, Ming Dynasty—lead silicate glaze on stoneware-- to Japan—brilliant, acidic green created by oxidation fired copper, rather than subtle green of celadons—iron, reduction fired. Color is associated with Oribe ware, and thought to be an independent Momoyama creation (1568-1615). Oribe made at Mino kilns from about 1605 on—copper green alternates with patterns based on textiles. Green also began to influence paintings and textiles—cross media boundaries. Some jars similar to Freer jar also have yellow brown glaze (iron) and manganese—similar to Tang Dynasty sancai.
Article good for discussion of Oribe ware, new interest in colour, pattern in early 17th c. Japan.
Martha Drexler Lynn, "Useful Misunderstandings Japanese Western Mingei"
Originally thought to be uniquely Japanese, Mingei endures as a vital part of Western ceramic movements. Mingei was a creation that blended Western values derived from the 19th-century British design theorists with a longing for Japanese national identity, a lacing of Buddhist practice and aesthetics derived in part from Choson-era Korean ceramics. The fact that Mingei theory persists within both the Western and Japanese ceramics worlds after almost a century attests to the power of its blended nature, achieved through cultural accretion, useful misunderstandings, and transcultural exchanges.
Article useful for understanding controversies around concept of Mingei.
Dana Micucci, "The Way of Tea Ceramics."
This article discusses the Japanese tea ceremony and Japanese tea ceramics. Increasingly attracting the attention of many on non-Japanese people who have adopted it as a life-enhancing intellectual and spiritual and spiritual pursuit, the tea ceremony is a virtual microcosm of Japanese culture, incorporating a huge array of traditional arts and crafts, ranging from architecture and garden design to calligraphy, painting, lacquer ware, bamboo and ceramics. The essence of the ceremony is perhaps best preserved in its ceramic bowls, tea caddies, water jars, flower vases, dishes, and serving bowls, the best of which are considered by experts to be among the highest expressions of an ancient Japanese ceramic tradition.
This article is extremely useful for understanding the cultural context for both slides 6 and 7.

Discusses museum's collection of folk craft including wares from Korea (Koryo and Choson Dynasty) as well as Japanese blue-and-white wares, concept of Mingei or folk wares, Soetsu Yanagi, Shoji Hamada, Author suggests move from Koryo to Choson corresponded to shift from Victoria Oyama, "Japan Folk Crafts Museum White Porcelain and Blue-and-White" Buddhism to Confucianism—wares become more severe—white rather than blue and white, scholars tools such as water droppers for ink writing become significant. Cobalt very expensive and imported, but by 15th c., local supplies discovered so blue and white become popular again. Under Confucianism, ideals of frugality and practicality valued—thus emphasis on pure white wares—simple, severe but beautiful form and glaze. Mingei—"beauty of intimacy," also sentimentality, feeling, calmness, pleasant comfort in a world beset by problems and great difficulties.
This article is useful for understanding connections between Japan and Korea, their shared aesthetic.
Morgan Pitelka, "A Raku Wastewater Container and the Problem of Monolithic Sincerity"
A consideration of a ceramic wastewater container, or kensui, made by Raku Tannyu of the Raku family of potters in Kyoto, Japan, in 1819. The piece was made during one of Raku's workshops at the Kairakuen kiln in the garden of Wakayama Castle in the former province of Kii. The apparent simplicity of the object hides a complicated biography, meaning that its "monolithic sincerity" does not do justice to the complex identities that emerge from a careful examination of its complex history. Significantly, it is a reproduction of a famous wastewater container, known as Large Sidearm, ostensibly once owned by the influential tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522-91). Both Raku's container and its antecedent can and should be considered as interrelated objects that illuminate and inform early modern and contemporary tea ceremony practices alike.
This article is very useful for slides 5 and 6, understanding Japanese concepts of wabi, the tea ceremony and Japanese concepts of tradition, copying and cultural capital.

Korean Ceramics (slide 8)
Jane Portal, "Korean Celadons of the Koryo Dynasty" (in coursepack)—essential for slide 8.
See also Oyama, discussed above.

Vietnamese Ceramics (slide 9)
Glen Brown, "Vietnamese Blue & White Stonewares of the 14th-16th Centuries" (on-line)
The writer discusses the underglaze cobalt painted stonewares of 14th- to 16th-century Vietnam. These stonewares are among the least understood of the many historical ceramics influenced by Ming-dynasty Jingdezhen porcelains. Over the last 15 years, however, a much clearer understanding has developed of the stylistic characteristics that distinguish Vietnamese blue-and-white stonewares from similar wares made elsewhere and of how these relate to a unique cultural history and identity. Most of these Vietnamese wares were produced for export, and even the most basic pieces can have an appealing fluidity of decoration that has long been appreciated in such countries as Japan. Although rare, the most elaborate and carefully executed examples of Vietnamese blue-and-white wares compare with even the best of Chinese production from the period. The writer discusses the early trading of these stonewares.

Thai Ceramics (slide 10)
Glen Brown, "Thai Stoneware of the 14th to 16th Centuries" (on-line)
Thai stonewares occupy a prominent place during the 14th- to 16th-centuries in the complex network of Southeast Asian ceramics production and trade. By the first half of the 14th century, the Thai stoneware production industry had developed sufficiently to engage in vigorous foreign trade that would eventually carry the products of Thai kilns to places throughout Southeast Asia and as far east as the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. Made in the Sukhothai Kingdom of north central Thailand, the wares were manufactured at two principal kiln centers--Si Satchanalai and Sukhothai. An overview of Thai stoneware production from the 14th century to the 16th century is provided.

Islamic Ceramics—slides 11 and 12
Sheila Canby, "Islamic Lustreware"—course pack, essential reading.
See notes on Islamic ceramics on blogsite (2007)
Victor Cassidy, "Perpetual Glory: Islamic Ceramics of the Middle Ages" (on-line)
The article reviews the exhibition "Perpetual Glory: Medieval Islamic Ceramics from the Harvey B. Plotnick Collection," shown at the Art Institute of Chicago. Illuminating a little-known corner of ceramic history, the show featured 105 pieces, mostly bowls with a handful of architectural ceramics and a few cups, ewers, and other works. The show was part of the Silk Road Project, a year-long series of cultural events in Chicago that celebrate the network of overland and maritime trade routes that reached from the Far East across central Asia and the Iranian plateau to the Mediterranean Sea.
Mary Seyfarth, "Byzantine Glazed Ceramics."
To coincide with the 7th International Conference on Medieval Ceramics of the Mediterranean, held in October 1999, an exhibition entitled "Byzantine Glazed Ceramics The Art of Sgraffito" was organized. Held in the Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki, Greece, this unprecedented show featured functional pottery from the 11th century to post-Byzantine Greece. It demonstrated that Byzantine glazed ceramics finds its finest expression when the sgraffito line cuts through a white slip and exposes the red fabric of the clay. The show was accompanied by a handsome catalog. The writer goes on to discuss the six sgraffito processes.
This article discusses a range of ceramics related to and influenced by Islamic wares (recommended)

Slide 13, Holland, Delft, Pyramid Vase
See notes on Tin Glaze and More Notes on Tin Glaze on blogsite (2007)
See also Michael Archer, Oriental Influence on English Delftware" (course pack)

Slide 14: Italy, Deruta, Maiolica Dish:
Dora Thorton, "Maiolica Production in Renaissance Italy." (coursepack)

Slide 15: Bernard Palissy
See notes on Palissy on blogsite.

Slide 16: Medieval Jugs found in England
Beverly Nenk, "Highly Decorated Pottery in Medieval England" (coursepack)

Slide 17: England, Metropolitan Ware
David Gaimster, "Regional Decorative Traditions in English Post-Medieval Slipware" (coursepack)
Mary Wondrausch, "Flamboyance and Flair" (on-line)
The work of British ceramist Paul Young is discussed. Young has an interest in slipware, especially large medieval jugs, early pew figures, and 18th-century baking dishes, and reliquaries have perhaps been the motivation for his charming slab-built caskets. Although his primary motivation came from the early English works, it is apparent that European influences have not only crept into his patterning, but have almost engulfed these original ideas. His work reveals an unashamed joy in the slipware tradition and a skillful application of the bright colors, and one instinctively responds to the sense of tradition and history in his work.
This article discusses a contemporary artist influenced by the medieval slipware tradition.

Slide 18: Salt-Glazed stoneware vessels
See notes on German Salt Glaze on blogsite (2007)
David Gaimster, "Stoneware Production in Medieval and Early Modern Germany" (coursepack)

Slide 19: Meissen, J.J. Kaendler, Punchinello
See notes on European porcelain and German Porcelain on blogsite (2007).
Emmanuel Cooper, "European Porcelain" (coursepack)
Maureen Cassidy-Geiger, "An Italian Idyll: Meissen porcelain gifts and gift-giving" (on-line)
Chinese porcelain arriving in Venice by the 15th century sparked Italy's unparalleled appreciation for this material. The Venetian glass industry and majolica workshops responded to these princely collector's items, and the short-lived "Medici porcelain" manufactory that was set up in Florence in around 1575 was born of the experimentation that was to occupy alchemists and entrepreneurs across Europe in pursuit of a comparable ceramic industry for the next century and a half. The formula for hard-paste porcelain was ultimately discovered at the court of Saxony, and in 1710 the Royal Porcelain Manufactory began making pieces in the Albrechtsburg Castle at Meissen. Within two decades, its products were regularly being shipped abroad as royal gifts. The writer discusses the history of Meissen porcelain gift-giving.
Maureen Cassidy-Geiger, "Fabled Beasts: Augustus the Strong's Meissen Menagerie" (on-line)
Note: this article is by the same author as your required reading—you will enjoy it if you are interested in porcelain sculpture—Augustus' porcelain "menagerie" is quite spectacular.
Augustus II, "the Strong," created a porcelain menagerie in his Dutch Palace in Dresden. From about 1728, this elector of Saxony, who was king of Poland between 1697 and 1704 and from 1709 to 1733, ordered thousands of pieces of porcelain from the royal manufactory that he founded at Meissen in 1710. Almost 600 bird and animal figurines, representing both native and foreign species and made of pure porcelain in their natural scales and colors, as well as a series of imaginary beasts, were commissioned for the long gallery on the main floor of the palace, also known as the Japanese Palace. Today, several public and private collections in Europe and the United States have one or more of these figures in their collections. A number of these animal figures are pictured and described.

Slide 20: Sèvres Vases
See notes on European Porcelain French Porcelain on blogsite (2007).
Emmanuel Cooper, "European Porcelain" (coursepack)

Slides 21 and 22: Industrial Ceramics
See notes on Industrial Ceramics in Britain on blogsite (2007).
Aileen Dawson, "The Growth of the Staffordshire Ceramic Industry" (coursepack)
Kory Rogers, "Slipups: Mocha ware at the Shelburne Museum"
The vividly patterned surfaces and ornamentation of mocha ware have long attracted collectors' attention. Research into the origins of its kaleidoscopic designs has inspired in the publication of important books and articles, as well as the recent reinstallation by the Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont, of its 230 pieces of mocha ware--the biggest public collection in the world. The two year project allowed the museum staff to minutely examine its holdings, actively acquire significant pieces, and most importantly compare, contrast, and formulate conclusions regarding the creation of the remarkable surfaces of mocha ware. The writer discusses some of the museum staff's observations and findings. Items of mocha ware from the museum's collection are pictured.
This is an interesting article on a particular form of early industrial ceramics.
Garth Clark, "The Martin Brothers and their role in the art pottery movement"
The Martin brothers were a unique British collaborative of potters who stand above most in the art pottery movement. Although the brothers were social and aesthetic outcasts and were estranged from the Art and Crafts Movement, their work marks the highest point of Victorian art pottery. Each of the four brothers--Robert Wallace, Walter, Edwin, and Charles--had his own specialty in the London-based pottery. Wallace was the oldest brother and the group's driving force, and the pottery is best known today for his bird vessels. However, his talent for alienating potential friends and benefactors, along with Charles's mistrust of the commercial world, isolated the Martins and set them apart from their fellow ceramists and the Arts and Crafts Movement. The brothers were never fairly remunerated for their exceptional talent and salt-glaze sophistry, but their work has entered the pantheon of great ceramic art and grows more valued with time.
The Martin Brothers hold a great deal of interest for those attracted to sculptural and figurative ceramics. Garth Clark is an authority on their work.

Maps of Chinese, Japanese and SE Asia kiln sites

2009-10-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

Here are maps of the main areas we will be looking at in Asia. The maps are a bit hard to see on the blog, so you might want to download them so as to view them better on your own computer.

Wedgwood "Pegasus" Vase

2009-10-17T17:59:00.001-07:00

22. England, Wedgwood, “Pegasus” vase, 1786, jasperware, John Flaxman (younger).
The Pegasus Vase Etruria factory, Staffordshire, 1786. The body is made of pale blue jasper, and the relief decoration, handles and Pegasus of white jasper. Jasper is a type of unglazed stoneware that can be stained with colour before firing. Josiah Wedgwood I (1730-95) perfected the technique by 1775 after experiments to produce a new clay body for the making of gems. Wedgwood made multiples of the Pegasus Vase in jasper ware and in black basalt. With the sharp relief decoration set against the smooth surface, the vase is a masterpiece of the potter's art, and Wedgwood took great pride in presenting it to the British Museum in 1786. The decoration of the vase was modelled by John Flaxman junior (1755-1826). Flaxman adapted a variety of classical sources; the figures in the main scene are based on an engraving of a Greek vase of the fourth century BC, while the Medusa heads at the base of the handles are taken from an engraving of an antique sandal.D'Hancarville, author of the catalogue of Hamilton's vases, identified the central figure as the ancient Greek poet Homer. D'Hancarville shared contemporary admiration for Homer's genius and his interpretation was widely accepted.Like others, including Johann Winckelmann (1717-68), he believed that the sublime quality of Homer's poetry had transformed the visual arts from their primitive origins to the beautiful naturalism displayed here. Hamilton hoped that his collection would improve the work of artists and artisans in Britain, and this vase did prove to have a considerable influence. John Flaxman (1755-1826) copied the scene for a plaque for mantelpieces and Josiah Wedgwood used it on a jasper ware vase, known as the 'Homeric vase' or 'Pegasus Vase'. Wedgwood donated one of these vases to the British Museum in 1786 and considered it 'the finest & most perfect I have ever made'. (British Museum)
See notes on "Industry in Britain" in this blog.

Staffordshire Coffee Pot with Cover, Marbled

2009-10-17T17:57:00.001-07:00

21. England, Staffordshire Pottery, Coffee pot and cover, marbled earthenware, 1760-70.
Agate ware is made by wedging together clays of different colours to produce a variegated slab that resembles hard stones (i.e. agate). Manganese, iron and cobalt were added to white clay to produce the colour. Table wares like this were generally lead-glazed to produce an attractive glossy surface and to prevent staining. Agate ware was produced by numerous firms in the Staffordshire area in the mid-18th c. Designs were influenced by silver pots from the 1720s. It was replaced by more fashionable creamware by the 1770s.
See notes on "Industry in Britain" in this blog.

Sevres, Pair of Vases with Candle Holders

2009-10-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

20. France, Sèvres, Pair of Vases with Candle Holders “à tête d’élephant” 1756, soft paste porcelain, by Charles-Nicolas Dodin 37.6 x 27.6 cm. (Wallace Collection, London)
Soft-paste porcelain decorated with a green ground, painted with cherubs in the manner of Boucher and gilded. The design is attributed to J-C Duplessis who worked at the factory from 1754-74; these vases may have belonged to Mme. de Pompadour. Porcelain in France develops under court patronage. No source of kaolin was discovered in France until 1768. The earliest commercial soft paste porcelain was made at Saint-Cloud in about 1693. The Chantilly factory, founded by Louis-Henry de Bourbon, prince de Condé in 1730, moved to Vincennes in 1738. At the bequest of Mme. Pompadour, it was moved to Sèvres outside Paris in 1756. Sèvres was granted exclusive privilege to make wares "in the style of Saxony" (Meissen) for 20 years and thus had no need to pursue commercial success. The factory employed hundreds of workers, some of the greatest French artists and had 7 specialist workshops. Completely at the mercy of palace power and intrigue, it produced extremely fashionable decorative objects painted with fantasy, chinoiserie-inspired scenes--potpourris, garnitures, plaques, opera glasses, ice buckets, table wares.
See notes on French porcelain in this blog.

Meissen, J. J. Kaendler Punchinello Figure

2009-10-17T17:53:00.001-07:00

19. Germany, Meissen, J.J. Kaendler, figure of Punchinello, hard paste porcelain, 1740.
Kändler designed a series of porcelain of figures representing the characters from the commedia dell'arte, a popular theatre form in Europe from 1500-1700. The commedia dell'arte derives from the Italian set of stock characters and situations that date back to Roman times. Harlequin, Scaramouche, Columbine, Il Dottore, and Punchinello were well known to audiences of the time. This figure is Punchinello, the hook nosed, humpback trickster, a brutal, vindictive, and deceitful character, always at odds with authority. This character has its roots in Roman theater as a clown and would later evolve into Punch of the Punch and Judy show. The porcelain figure is glazed, and then painted and fired with overglazes and lusters. These figures were used as ornaments for centerpieces at the dining table, or as decorative objects.See notes on German hard paste porcelain in this blog.

Rhineland Salt-glazed Stoneware Vessels

2009-10-17T17:51:00.001-07:00

18. Germany, Rhineland, Salt-glazed stoneware vessels, 16th c.
Germany: Salt-Glaze-Rhineland early centre of Roman occupation, pottery traditions. Large scale production by 7th c.; kiln improvements in 9th made for tougher wares. Stoneware (steinzeug) produced between 1000-1200 CE—first in Europe (China: 500 BCE). Area favoured with wood supply, stoneware clays, river transport, population base, bronze-working traditions. Developments relate to brewing industry—introduce hops c. 1500—big upsurge in beer consumption requires hygienic, sturdy wares. Canette--in Germany, short fat pint; Schnelle: ("fast")--tall, tapering mug; Bellarmines (face modelled on neck—satirize Cardinal opposed to drinking).
See notes in blog on "Salt Glaze."

England, Metropolitan Ware

2009-10-17T17:50:00.001-07:00

17. England, Metropolitan ware, red earthenware trailed and feathered slip, 17th c.
The slipware industry developed in England as part of a "pan-European fashion" for decorative tablewares. Wares such as these competed with more expensive tin-glazed wares, which represented the height of fashion in middle-class homes. Tin-glaze, in turn, competed with and was influenced by blue and white Chinese porcelain imported into the region at this time. The designs were made by trailing light coloured slip onto red earthenware through a cow-horn or pottery vessel fitted with a quill or reed; the wares were then lead-glazed and once-fired, making a very economical product for the lower end of the social spectrum. A wide range of decorative motifs were employed including geometric, floral and figural designs appropriate for the urban market. One defining feature was the use of texts, a practice possibly originating in the previous century in the Rhineland area of Germany with texts added to salt-glazed stoneware. Metropolitan wares produced in Essex featured texts applied in block letters with pious aphorisms urging humility, charity or loyalty to the crown. Texts influenced by the Puritan government of the day were replaced with royalist messages after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. See David Gaimster, "Regional Decorative Traditions in English Post-Medieval Slipware," in your course text, pp 129-130.

Medieval Jugs found in SE England

2009-10-17T17:48:00.001-07:00

16. Medieval jugs found in SE England, earthenware, thrown, slip decorated, late 12th-early 13th c. Left to right: early 13th-c. made/found in London; mid 13th-century decorated jug made in Kingston; 13th-c. jug made in Rouen, found in Oxfordshire; late 12th-c. incised tripod pitcher made in London. Kingston Jug Medieval, late 13th century, From Kingston, Surrey, England. This jug was found in the nineteenth century in an old chalk well in Cannon Street, near London Bridge, during construction work. It takes its name from the medieval kiln in Surrey where it was probably made. It is highly decorated in a style which imitates French pottery and clearly demonstrates the influence of French tastes on English tableware in the thirteenth century. The rich variety of coloured glazes is achieved by the addition of iron (for brown/red), copper (for green) and lead (for yellow). The diamond-shaped panels, containing rampant lions (or dragons) alternating with dark green inverted chevrons, show both the imagination and technical diversity of the medieval potter. Height: 28.5 cm (British Museum

Bernard Palissy Lead Glazed piece rustique

2009-10-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

15. France, Bernard Palissy (workshop), lead-glazed earthenware, piece rustique c. 1575-1600. See notes on Palissy in this blog.

Deruta, Maiolica Dish

2009-10-17T17:44:00.001-07:00

14. Italy, Deruta, Maiolica dish, c. 1490-1525 inscribed PÊDORMIRENONSAQUISTA ('nothing is gained by sleeping'). Dia. 40 cm Height 8 cm. (British Museum)When applied to maiolica, the term 'belle donne' (Italian 'beautiful women') usually refers to a category of dishes or plates bearing female heads and a scroll inscribed with a name or motto. They were produced in large numbers in several Italian pottery centres between around 1520 and 1550, for a wide variety of clients. The female image is idealized to such a degree that it is unlikely to be an accurate likeness of a particular woman. However, the names, either with or without adjective or mottoes, are thought to refer to contemporary women, often local worthies or local beauties, as suggested by a contemporary sonnet addressed to a potter in Todi, not far from Deruta. Those pieces with a moralizing inscription are not belle donne wares in the true sense, but are part of the artistic tradition of portraying female images with a moralizing statement, often one that appears to be specifically addressed to a female audience.

Delft Pyramid Vase

2009-10-17T17:42:00.001-07:00

13.
Holland, Delft, Pyramid vase, tin-glaze earthenware, 1690-1720, over 100 cm high.
This form is called a tulip or pyramid vase. In fact, it was not only used for tulips; all sorts of cut flowers could be arranged in it. This example was made in Delft, between 1690 and 1720 and it is more than a metre high. The construction comprises a stack of vases. Inside, a wooden stick holds the successive basins in place. The separate vases were needed because all the flowers required their own water supply. To make the vase in one piece would have been counterproductive: the water would have escaped once it rose above the bottom spouts. But that was not the only reason why a stack of successive vases was chosen. In 1700 Delft potters had not yet discovered how to fire such high forms. As a single piece, this vase would have collapsed in the kiln. Vases with spouts for individual flowers were made in all sorts of shapes in the last quarter of the seventeenth century. The pyramid vase was the ultimate achievement in this field.
Forty flowers could be arranged in this tower of Delft blue Faience, a type of pottery covered in a thick white tin glaze. Usually the glaze is decorated with motifs before being fired in the kiln for the last time. This type of pottery - unlike porcelain - is not pure white: the inside inner layer is brown or beige. The word 'faience' comes from Faenza, on of the Italian cities that specialised in this type of pottery in the 14th and 15th centuries. Faience is also called majolica, presumably a corruption of Majorca. It was through this island that the pottery was shipped. In the 17th century Delft became a major centre of painted faience production. Delftware was renowned as a skilful imitation of Chinese porcelain. The vase is decorated with flowers and birds. On the base, Flora, the goddess of flowers, is painted. The form of the tower is based on two exotic structures which were in fashion in the late seventeenth century. The pointed shape is reminiscent of the Egyptian obelisk. An obelisk is a square-sectioned column tapering towards the top and culminating in a pyramid. The origins of the form lie in ancient Egypt. Numerous obelisks were taken by the Romans from Egypt and displayed throughout Rome as decorative monuments. In the Renaissance the obelisk returned in smaller form as an ornamental motif., a structure that symbolised immortality and princely fame. A pagoda is a freestanding tower-like Asiatic structure. The word is usually applied to Chinese temples built up of different levels. Miniature pagodas are often found in Western art as motifs intended to give an object an oriental tint. Pagodas were known in the Netherlands from illustrations in seventeenth-century travel descriptions of China. The mystery of far-off China caught people's imagination in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.The French word 'Chinoiserie' actually means a work of art from China. However, the term is usually employed to denote the fashion for oriental, or Chinese shapes that raged in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. The term 'chinoiserie' is also used for an object dating from this China fashion, such as the gardens with Chinese temples and pagodas or the imitation Chinese porcelain, with imitation Chinese decorations. Often, the decorative motifs comprised a mixture of fantasised Chinese or Oriental figures and shapes together with European Rococo ornamentation, decorated walls, furniture and dinnerware. (Rijksmuseum)

Iran, Kashan, Stonepaste Bottle

2009-10-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

12. Iran, Kashan, Stonepaste bottle, painted in lustre with seated figures and prowling animals Dated Muharram 575 AH, (CE 1179) Height: 14.3 cm.
The earliest known piece of Kashan lustreware. This bottle is the earliest known dated Iranian example of the lustreware technique. Its neck is missing, and the body is in a fragmentary state, but much of the decoration is clearly visible. The main band shows a seated group of people, against a background of leafy ornament which suggests a garden setting. Below the garden-party is an inscription of a poem. Below the inscription is a succession of hounds chasing hares, against a simple pattern of curling vegetation. This is a popular subject on luxury objects, referring to the favourite noble pastime of hunting. A similar band is on the top of the bottle. The lowest band is decorated with a trellis of stylized curling plant stems.Translation of poem on bottle:'Oh Heavenly sphere, why do you set afflictions before me? Oh Fortune, why do you scatter salt on my wounds? Oh Enemy of mine, how often will you strike at me? I am struck by my own fate and fortune.May joy, exultation and cheerfulness be with you.May prosperity, happiness and triumph be your companions.'(Translation: O. Watson)

Iraq, Abbasid Dynasty Bowl

2009-10-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

11. Iraq, Abbasid dynasty, 9th c. Bowl. earthenware, painted in-glaze. 5.7 x 20.8 x 20.8 cm. (Freer Gallery)
Among the earliest surviving works of art decorated with writing are a group of ceramic vessels, produced in Iraq and Iran under the rule of the powerful Abbasid dynasty (749–1258). Inspired by the whiteness and purity of the much admired, imported Chinese porcelain, Muslim potters created their own "white ware" by covering their buff-colored earthenware vessels with a glaze containing a small amount of lead and tin, which turns opaque when fired. This bowl combines both vegetal motifs and calligraphic design in cobalt and copper glazes. Surrounded by windswept palmettes, the inscription in the center confers blessings to the owner. (Freer)

Thailand, Si Satchanalai Covered Box

2009-10-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

10. Thailand, Si Satchanalai, Ayutthaya period. 15-16th c. Covered Box with Interior Tray. Stoneware with iron glaze and iron pigment under clear glaze. W. 8 cm. (Freer Gallery)

Painted decoration on Mainland Southeast Asian ceramics related to indigenous traditions of painting (and writing), such as murals or illustrated manuscripts on palm leaf or paper. An intriguing aspect of painted ceramic decoration is the nature of the brush employed. Some forms of decoration on Sawankhalok and Sukhothai ceramics appear to be executed with a stiff brush (possibly softened plant fiber) that leaves crisp, blunted ends to the lines. Elsewhere, in Kalong or at the Red River Delta kilns in North Vietnam, the soft, flexible Chinese-style animal-hair brush must have been employed, judging from the quality of line and outline.
Painted iron decoration covered by clear glaze (or possibly applied over it) appeared on stoneware made at the Dai La kiln site west of Hanoi in the fourteenth century. Some dishes and bowls made at the Binh Dinh (Vijaya) kilns in Central Vietnam also bore iron decoration under the glaze. Similar underglaze decoration on stoneware was produced at the Sawankhalok kilns on MON-associated stoneware (MASW). This production occurred in the early decades of the fifteenth century, according to shipwreck evidence.
Around the same time, the Sukhothai kilns produced wares with iron decoration over thick white slip, which became their standard mode, while the Sawankhalok kilns shifted by mid-fourteenth century to a focus on celadon glaze. It is possible that the use of iron-painted decoration in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries represented a response to iron-decorated wares imported from southern Chinese kilns, such as the Haikang kilns in southern Guangdong province. By contrast, a later (sixteenth-century) phase of iron decoration at Sawankhalok and Kalong appears to be an attempt to replicate (in the absence of the actual blue pigment) the decoration executed with cobalt on wares from North Vietnam and southern China. Similar iron decoration appears on very few ceramics from Lower Burma dating to the sixteenth century (Freer Gallery).
Note: The term 'Sawankhalok' was used at one stage to describe all ceramics made at Si-Satchanalai in north-central Thailand. By the mid 14th century, the rising kingdom of Ayudhya used the name Sawankhalok ('place of heaven') to describe the ancient town of Si-Satchanalai, which had a long ceramic tradition. However, the modern town and province of Sawankhalok were never associated with ceramics, so to avoid confusion the name Si-Satchanalai should be used to describe the ceramics made in that area. (Maritime Asia)

Vietnamese Bowl with Underglaze Blue

2009-10-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

9. Vietnam, 15th c. Bowl. Stoneware painted with underglaze cobalt blue. H. 6.7; D. 24.4 cm.

Although the peony in the interior of this bowl is a Chinese motif, its placement as the central medallion is distinctly Vietnamese; peonies on Chinese ceramics are more likely to occupy the horizontal register on vases. The base of the bowl is covered with a chocolate-brown mixture of clay and water, or slip. The covering of the bottom of a ceramic piece in this fashion is found on wares from Vietnam and Thailand, but has no technical explanation and the purpose of this slip remains unclear. The choice may have reflected aesthetic preferences, or it may have served a more practical function. For example, the brown base may have served to differentiate vessels used in religious or other types of ceremonies from those used in more mundane settings or it may have been a potter's mark or possibly a counting symbol of some sort (Asia Society).
Production of glazed ceramics began in Vietnam about two thousand years ago. The making of blue and white (cobalt) stoneware was spurred on by the Ming-period invasion and annexation of Vietnam from 1407 to 1428 and the imperial Chinese prohibition of the ceramic trade from 1436 to 1465. Originally used in Vietnam to replace the black underglaze iron decoration common on ceramics made during the 13th and 14th centuries, underglaze cobalt blue quickly became the most common color for painting Vietnamese ceramics.
Although the Chinese annexation of Vietnam may have provided the technology for blue-and-white wares, economic competition was an important stimulus in their development. By the 15th century, blue-and-white wares were the most popular ceramics in the world. Active markets for them existed in East Asia, throughout Southeast Asia, and in the Middle East. The Chinese prohibition of exporting ceramics for almost thirty years during this time of high demand provided an ideal opportunity for the Vietnamese ceramic industry to expand, and the Vietnamese reliance on Chinese prototypes was most likely a deliberate attempt to capitalize on the contemporary desire for Chinese-style wares (Freer Gallery notes).

Koryo Dynasty Buddhist Kundika

2009-10-17T17:32:00.001-07:00

8. Korea, Koryo period, late 12-early 13th c. Buddhist ritual sprinkler (kundika). Stoneware with white slip inlay under celadon glaze. H. 35.8 W 14.4 D 13.0 cm.

This vessel, used for sprinkling sacred water during Buddhist ceremonies, illustrates the effectiveness of inlay for pictorial decoration on ceramics. Black and white inlays within incised motifs (sanggam technique) portray a tranquil scene in which a willow tree stands alongside a lotus pond. Similar landscapes appear on bronze ritual sprinklers inlaid with silver wire. This piece was made at the Puan kiln complex in southwestern Korea.

Many celadons were produced for Buddhist rituals—the shapes are based on metal originals. The Kundika—water sprinkler, a shape originally from India—traveled along silk route to China and Korea. Bowl sets for hand washing, incense burners, many in animal shapes were also produced for Buddhist monasteries. The wares travelled by boat from kilns in the south-west to the capital at Songdo, modern day Kaesong. Recent excavations of shipwrecks in area show volume of celadon production.
The technique known as sanggam developed in the second half 12th c.Carved, incised decoration is inlaid with another colour of slip. The technique derives from metal and lacquer ware—inlaying gold, silver into bronze, mother-of-pearl into lacquer. Designs of clouds, flowers, grapes etc. were carved into leather-hard forms. They were then painted with the inlay material, allowed to harden, and then the excess was scraped off excess to reveal design. The works were then glazed and fired. The inlay not strictly clay; it consisted of crushed quartz for white and iron-rich material for black.

Momoyama Period Ewer for Tea Ceremony

2009-10-17T17:30:00.001-07:00

7. Japan, Momoyama period (1568–1615), early 17th century. Ewer for Use in Tea Ceremony, Shino-Oribe ware with iron decoration.
This beautiful ewer was made as a wine server for the "kaiseki," or the meal that precedes the tea ceremony. With its bold contour and charmingly painted floral and textile patterns, it is one of the most attractive and rare examples of a type of ware known as Shino-Oribe. The body of refined clay is covered with a white feldspathic glaze that fired a purplish pink where it pooled and interacted with the iron. Shino ware, the first decorated white ware in Japan, was developed in the sixteenth century in Mino, Gifu Prefecture. This piece is a fascinating example of the transformation of Mino ceramics in accordance with the taste of the tea master Furuta Oribe (1544–1615) and the technical changes brought about by the introduction, in the early seventeenth century, of a more advanced kiln type, the chambered climbing kiln modeled on those built by Korean craftsmen at Karatsu in Kyushu. The earliest and most important new kiln was the one at Motoyashiki, in Mino, where utensils for the tea masters of Kyoto were produced to order. At Motoyashiki the green-glazed decorated wares known as Oribe ware were produced, but excavations reveal that Shino wares continued to be made there in the early period. Inevitably prevailing taste and new technology brought forth the changes in Shino ware that are reflected in the more refined form and inventive decoration of this vessel

Muromachi Period Shigaraki Ware

2009-10-17T17:28:00.000-07:00

6. Shigaraki was one of the ancient centres of pottery producing domestic wares, in the area which now forms Shiga Prefecture. Robust, thick-walled Shigaraki ware has been made since the Kamakura period (1185-1333). It is made with a sandy clay containing feldspar which is distinctly visible through the ash glaze. This jar is typical of the ware, with characteristic incised circles around the shoulder. Height: 33 cm (British Museum).

Ming Dynasty Export "Kraak" Ware

2009-10-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

5. China, Ming Dynasty, early 17th c., porcelain, export market, “kraak” ware, Porcelain with cobalt blue underglaze. 28.6 cm
A defining feature of kraak porcelain (so-called from the Dutch name for caracca, the Portuguese merchant ship) is the device of paneled decoration, seen here in the wide border of the dish, with its alternation of sunflowers and emblems. The central scene of ducks on a pond and the paneled motifs are among the numerous variants on the basic format of this extensive class of export porcelain. Examples similar to the Museum's dish, which is well made and painted with strong color and with care, if not with spirit, were found in the cargo of the Dutch ship Witte Leeuw, sunk in battle off Saint Helena in 1613.

Yuan Dynasty, "David Vases"

2009-10-17T17:25:00.001-07:00

4. China, Yuan Dynasty. Pair of temple vases, inscribed 1351. Porcelain with cobalt blue underglaze. Height: 63.5 cm.
"David Vases" 1351. With high hollow foot & elephant handles, decorated in brilliant blue. The decoration is distributed in a series of bands, the main field round the body bearing a vigorous 4 clawed dragon pursuing a pearl through clouds, with a wave pattern below. Round the foot is a peony scroll above a band of small panels containing auspicious symbols. Above the main field, on the shoulder, is a formal scroll; the lower part of the neck is decorated with phoenix among clouds, & the upper part with plantain leaves, interrupted on one side to make space for an inscription. Round the mouth is a floral scroll. The glaze is blue tinged. Height: 63.5

Northern Song Cizhou Vase

2009-10-17T17:23:00.001-07:00

3. Northern Song, Cizhou vase, late 11th – early 12th c., stoneware with carved slip decoration, 29 cm.
Cizhou (or tzu-chou) wares from Hopei (or Hebei) province are the largest group of stonewares—light grey clay body covered with white slip and vigorous free—hand painted floral, foliage designs—sometimes scratched through dark slip to white, meanders, peony, diaper patterns. Sometimes overglaze red, green added. Used for everyday wares—pillows, brush pots, wine jars, bowls, boxes, vases.

Song Dynasty Ding Ware Bowl

2009-10-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

2. China, Hebei province, Northern Song Dynasty, late 11th-early 12th c. CE. Ding Ware Bowl, Porcelain with moulded decoration, bound in copper, Diameter: 21.3 cm (at mouth), 4.2 cm (at foot)
This bowl was produced at the Ding kilns in Hebei province, northern China, whose white porcelains were considered one of the 'five great wares' of the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279 AD). The others were called Ru, Jun, Guan and Ge wares. Ding wares were sent to the Imperial court as tribute as early as AD 980.Early Ding wares were fired in separate saggars, with each piece having been incised individually. In the late eleventh or early twelfth century, they began using moulds for decoration and stacked the pieces for firing, which allowed mass production. The decorative effect differs greatly between the early and the later examples.The decoration on this bowl is a good example of the later, moulded type. Children play among lotus flowers, a common motif in Chinese ceramics, paintings and textiles. The moulds became less crisp with repeated use, but this appears to be one of the first impressions, as the decoration is still very clear.The metal band around the mouth is made of a copper alloy. Apart from its decorative use, it also smoothed the rough, unglazed rim.Diameter: 21.3 cm (at mouth) Diameter: 4.2 cm (at foot)

Tang Figure of Seated Woman

2009-10-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

1. China, Tang Dynasty. Figure of a seated woman holding a bird, first half of 8th century earthenware with sancai (three-color) lead-silicate glaze H: 40.6 W: 17.9 D: 15.6 cm
This sensitively observed figure of a court woman offers insights into the cosmopolitan, wealthy lifestyle of the Tang dynasty (618–907) elite in the first half of the eighth century. Made as a burial good, this sculpture reflects competition among the Tang aristocracy to display numerous expensively crafted earthenware figures in funerary processions—grander objects indicated higher family status.Early eighth-century potters achieved a high point by imbuing ceramic figures with considerable naturalism and fidelity, despite using molds. Here, the double topknot and tie-dyed pattern on the woman's jacket realistically illustrate Tang fashion. The songbird she gazes upon alludes to Tang fascination with birds imported from India and the tropics.

Technical considerations

2009-09-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

Porcelain--note platey structure. Figure 1a (should be below)

Updraft kiln, firebox separate Figure 7c

Chinese Dragon Kiln Figure 7b

Bonfire/Neolithic kilns Figure 7a

Tin glaze Figure 6

German Salt Glaze Figure 5

Roman sigillata body and slip Figure 4

Faience Figure 3

Vegetable temper (above) and Roman smooth body (below)
Figure 2

Calcareous clay (above)/Limey earthenware Figure 1b/c (note: porcelain image at top)

Hello Class, Here are the technical notes I showed you in class. Remember, they are very basic!

Technical Considerations
• Clay: A fine-grained natural material which, when wet, is characterized by its plasticity, the property which allows it to be deformed by pressure into a desired shape without cracking and to keep this shape when the pressure is removed. In addition to clay minerals, clay typically contains feldspar, calcite and iron oxide.
• Clay Minerals: A group of very fine-grained minerals (alumino silicates) which are the main constituents of clay. They occur as minute platelets which, when wet, slide across one another, giving the clay its plastic properties.

Clay Structure (Ceramic Masterpieces) fig1.8 p38 particles of Kaolinite. Fine platelets occur as stacks that require intensive mixing to break up into individual particles. When separated by water films, the platelets slide over one another to give good plasticity to a clay-water paste. (above figure 1a)

figure 13.2 p. 235 Calcereous illite clay from Corinth consists of much finer platey particles and has high impurity content (potassia, calcia, iron, titania); Limey earthenware clay from Iran more impure, finer particle, less-well developed platey nature. (figures 1b/c)

Primary and Secondary Clays
Clay occurs naturally in beds of weathered and decomposed granite and gneiss that makes up 85% of the earth’s surface.
Primary clays are found on the site of the parent feldspathic rock and are relatively pure, containing only materials that were part of the parent rock such as feldspar, quartz and mica. They are typically white, large grained and aplastic with low shrinkage. They have a high melting point and require flux to decrease firing temperature (i.e. kaolin).
Secondary clays are deposited away from the parent rock by water or wind and are characterized by fine, uniform particles. They tend to be very plastic and require the addition of other materials such as sand or grog to prevent excessive shrinkage.
• Calcareous Clay: contains more than 5% lime, usually in the form of calcite (calcium carbonate, CaCO), the main constituent of limestone. Clays of this type are typically alluvial and were widely used in the Mediterranean and the Near East. Calcareous clays fire to a very stable structure in the range of 850-1050 degrees C, characteristic of much ancient pottery. Careful control of temperature was not necessary and a wide range of colours would result from a single firing.

• Potters clean and refine their dug clay by levigation--washing clay in slurry form, allowing it to settle and pouring off liquid with finer particles in suspension into additional tubs. It is generally aged and foreign particles are removed. Often sand, crushed pots, shell or other materials are added to improve the clay body, to give it bulk, strength, ability to withstand rapid changes in heat etc. Washed clay needs to be wedged (pugged) to eliminate air bubbles and foreign materials. In factory situations, specialized workers look after each of these tasks.

Temper in Pots
Micrographs showing vegetable temper (top) and numerous grains of very fine sand or silt in romanised ware (bottom). Note the regular, well-sorted size distribution of particles. The inclusion of temper improves thermal shock resistance in bonfire firing and cooking. Hand-pots break less-easily than do wheel-thrown wares. (PMCT p.58) (Figure 2 above)

Forming techniques:
Methods are direct (throwing, hand forming, carving, turning, modelling) or indirect (moulding). Clay can be squeezed, pinched and paddled into shape. Pinch or thumb pots most familiar--limit to size, but otherwise, any level of sophistication possible. Pinching and hand forming can also be done to embellish a thrown pot--ie, additional ornaments, lip or foot design. Hand-building can involve cutting slabs of clay to patterns and luting edges together. Coil building can simulate wheel-throwing in roundness, uniformity. Often walls thinned and raised by beating with paddle, supporting wall from inside of pot with “anvil.” Huge pots made in this way still in Greece, Asia. Finished pots may be burnished with stone, shell or mineral like hematite to align particles/consolidate surface and gives degree of impermeability and beautiful sheen.
Molding technique originated with bronze casting, carried over to ceramics. Single valve (i.e. sprig molds) designs fairly flat but can later be undercut. Efficient way to produce identical or nearly-identical multiples--sometimes hand finishing makes each one subtly different. Romans industrialize ceramics through molds. Double-valve molds--two sides to mold fit together, side seams smoothed over--enable replication of eccentric shapes that otherwise would require very slow building techniques. Slip casting more efficient--wet slip poured into mold, sloshed around, excess poured off (can be repeated)--shrinkage makes clay pull away. Cutting: can elaborate surface by piercing, cutting patterns into it. Might also involve impressing various tools, seals; inlaid patterns can later be filled in with contrasting coloured slip (Korean celadons from 10-14th c.) or as intensification of glaze (Sung-Dynasty).

Potter’s Wheel
consists of top circular bat, bearing or bearings, on which wheel rotates, heavy flywheel that can be turned by assistant or by foot and which will turn for a long time, leaving hands free to work. Very tall pots usually thrown in sections and joined--wet clay will only support so much weight for thickness of walls. Accurate throwing might involve templates, pointers for measuring. Clay can be thrown into concave molds fixed to bat--useful for mass-production of identical items, especially bowls with relief-molded decoration. Jiggering--mold fixed to bat, template made for external radius--mold is usually convex--place pancake or bat of clay over mold, lower arm over spinning clay--press until excess is shaved away. Turning: shaving-down of green-hard pot to thin walls--refines shape--Chinese eggshell porcelains (18th c) shaved to almost unbelievable thinness. Used to perfect profiles of shoulders, rims, feet, flanges etc.

Slips and Glazes:
make pots impervious (for earthenware) or stronger, more chip-resistant and enhance appearance. Slips are clay particles suspended in water, often have materials added to enhance suspension and/or colouring agents. Slips have natural affinity for clay body. Glazes have additional fluxes added and consist mainly of colouring agent--metal or metalic oxide, with glassy agent--silica (quartz, flint or sand) plus flux (lead, soda, wood-ash, borax or magnesia) to lower melt temperature of silica plus frit, clay, feldspar etc. to give “body” to glaze. Raw glazes--naturally insoluble with limestone and feldspar as main fluxes or lead glazes and fritted glazes in which soluble alkalis are rendered insoluble by fritting--melting with silica and later milled and sifted for uniform particle size.
Fritting renders toxic ingredients like heavy metals, lead non-toxic. Soluble alkalis are problematic because the effloresce on the surface during drying and result in non-uniform composition with poor surface qualities.
Glaze materials fire different colours under different conditions. Main difference created by oxidizing--clear, bright flame, lots of oxygen--colouring agents remain in oxide form versus reduction--smoky, choked flame, “robs” oxygen from glaze or body of pot (oxygen combines with excess carbon in atmosphere), creates different colours--coloring agents are the metals themselves, not in oxide form. Alternations in environment can cause interesting speckles, different pots in same batch to fire differently, and are essential to Greek red and black pots.
Salt-glaze and Wood Ash--unique--enhance characteristic of clay itself--used on stoneware. Salt (NaCl) thrown into kiln over 1100 degrees C. decomposes, releasing chlorine gas. Silica acts as powerful flux on surface of pots--fuses ahead of rest of body, causing shiny glassy surface, often speckled. Very popular in Germany late middle-ages. Wood ashes dusted on pots prior to being put into kiln or exposed to ash from fire in kiln--effect is rustic, “natural”, highly-sought after in Japan.

Transfer printing important industrial technique--first used in Liverpool or Worchester for soft-paste porcelain in 1756. Makes use of copper plate engraving technology --copper plate is engraved--pigment applied to roller, plate wiped clean (pigment remains in grooves)--plate is printed onto thin paper attached to wares. Ware is then glazed and fired. Alternate process uses gelatin bat to deposit oil onto glazed wares, which are dusted with overglaze pigments and low-fired.

Faience (Figure 3)
Faience: Analysis of Egyptian faience reveals there is no deliberately added clay. The body was composed of crushed quartz, as shown in the micrograph, with small amounts of glass that bound the quartz grains together. A continuous glassy layer covers the surface. The body is porous, with holes showing as black. The glaze improves appearance and stabilizes surface/faience object. (PMCT p.104.)

Roman Terra Sigillata Bodies and Slips (figure 4)
Roman factories were able to impose standardization through the use of fine, calcareous clays that fired to a consistent quality over a range of temperatures ranging from 850-1050 degrees common to wood fired updraft kiln. Glossy surface is achieved by use of a very fine slip oxidized to sealing-wax red. Micrograph of sherd of Eastern Gaulish sigillata shows open, partially-vitrified body and vitreous slip. The two adhere well with the resulting tough “non-stick” surface that made this ware popular for the table. (PMCT p.191)

Salt-Glazing (figure 5)
The method of salt-glazing differs from other forms of glaze in that instead of raw glaze being applied to a pot, the glazing compound—salt—is deposited in the kiln during firing. Salt (NaCl) decomposes above 1100 degrees C to produce sodium oxide plus hydrogen chloride gas. The sodium oxide reacts with (fluxes) the alumina and silica of the pot to form a thin glaze layer. The glaze is rough to the touch due to numerous small flaws. Micrograph shows less than 0.1mm thick glaze on 16th c. stoneware from Frechen. (PMCT 124)

Tin-Opacified Glazes (figure 6)
Tin-glazes were first developed by Islamic potters in Iraq in 8th c. CE. Tin created appearance of opaque white glaze, which was excellent for decoration. Tin and lead were fired together to produce oxides; this was added to an alkali-silicate mixture. Micrograph shows section through body and glaze—numerous fine white particles are tin. (PMCT p.111)

Kilns: Simplest is bonfire--pots are stacked on wood, additional fuel packed in around--set on fire. Reduction atmosphere created by packing in dung or organic material--many primitive and ancient pots fired this way, leaving very few traces for archaeologists. Evolution to separate fire chamber from pot chamber--often with simple ceramic or metal grate. In bank kilns--China--single fire chamber at bottom of hill, succession of pot chambers go up hill--as get further from fire chamber, successively cooler (permits multiple firings at once). Dragon kilns 12th c. Song Dynasty two meters across and 30 meters long, rise up hill at 15 degrees, thick insulation, entry ports along way for insertion of fuel--fire moved up the hill during process. Air pre-heated by passing over wares below fire; exhaust gasses passed over wares ahead of flame, pre-warming wares, making efficient use of heat.

Kilns (from Ceramic Masterpieces, David Kingery and Pamela Vandiver)
Left, above: simple bonfire kiln
Left, below, Neolithic kiln, China (Figure 7a)

Chinese Dragon Kiln, 12th c. (figure 7b)

Updraft Kiln, firebox separate from wares (Kingery and Vandiver) (figure 7c)

Updraft kilns--heat is drawn up from fire pit, across pots and up chimney. Down-draft kilns--heat is drawn up and across, and then down again to flues at bottom of chamber--more efficient use of fuel, necessary for stoneware and porcelain temperatures. Saggars and muffles used to protect pots from flames. Modern kiln technology completely different--electric, controlled, wares stacked on trolleys that travel through kiln to produced identical wares. Control of temperature essential. Renaissance kiln masters familiar with relationship of colour to heat: red--525 C; Bright Red, beginning orange 1000C; Dull white 1300C; Bright white 1400C. Would open flues to allow hot gasses to reach cooler parts of furnace, stoke etc. to control heat. Firebox design and number important to stoneware or porcelain heat.

Missing images from Egyptian text

2009-09-22T16:18:00.000-07:00

figure 5

figure 4

fig 4 (note--no figure 3, 2 figure 4s)

fig 2

fig 1

Hello class, here are the images relating to the text left out of your course pack. They are similar but not identical to those in the essay. I have given you the captions in your class email

Criteria for Evaluating Internet Resources

2009-09-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

I am including this information to help you evaluate any website you chose to use for research. Please consult it prior to using a website in your Work Cited.
Criteria for Evaluating Internet Resources (From UBC Library)
The World Wide Web offers a great wealth of information, as well as the opportunity for people to express themselves and exchange ideas. This makes it a potentially great place to accomplish research on many topics. But putting documents or pages on the Web is easy, cheap or free, unregulated and unmonitored. If you are using a Web-based source for a research paper, you will need to develop skills to evaluate the credibility and appropriateness of what you find. The following checklist presents questions to ask to help determine whether a Web page is a suitable resource for a research paper, or not. Don't expect to be able to answer all the questions, all the time, for all Websites you look at. Rather, try to use the questions as a tool to help you look at Web pages critically.

Author or Source
Is there an author of the work? If so, is the author clearly identified?
Are the author's credentials for writing on this topic stated?
Is the author affiliated with an organization?
Does the site or page represent a group, organization, institution, corporation or government body?
Is there a link back to the organization's page or a way to contact the organization or the author to verify the credibility of the site (address, phone number, email address)?
Is it clear who is responsible for the creation and/or maintenance of the site or page?

Accuracy
Is this page part of an edited or peer-reviewed publication?
Can factual information be verified through footnotes or bibliographies to other credible sources?
Based on what you already know about the subject, or have checked from other sources, does this information seem credible?
Is it clear who has the responsibility for the accuracy of the information presented?
If statistical data is presented in graphs or charts is it labeled clearly?

Currency
Is there a date stating when the document was originally created?
Is it clear when the site or page was last updated, revised or edited?
Are there any indications that the material is updated frequently or consistently to ensure currency of the content?
If there are links to other Web pages are they current?

Objectivity
Is the page free of advertising? If the page does contain advertising, are the ads clearly separated from the content?
Does the page display a particular bias or perspective? Or is the information presented factually, without bias?
Is it clear and forthcoming about its view of the subject?
Does it use inflammatory or provocative language?

Coverage
Is there any indication that the page is incomplete or that it is not still under construction?
If there is a print equivalent to the Web page, is there clear indication of whether the entire work or only a portion is available on the Web?

Purpose
What is the primary purpose of the page? To sell a product? To make a political point? To have fun? To parody a person, organization or idea? Is the page or site a comprehensive resource or does it focus on a narrow range of information?
What is the emphasis of the presentation? Technical, scholarly, clinical, popular, elementary, etc.

See http://www.library/ubc.ca/home/evaluating/

Midterm Study Image 2009/5 Shabti

2009-09-10T21:59:00.000-07:00

Egypt, Shabti with Coffin, 19th-20th Dynasty, (c. 1307-1070 BCE. faience, 7cm.

Faience was known in Mesopotamia, Near East and Egypt to make beads and other luxury goods. Faience was an easily worked using molds and could be used to copy soapstone (in short supply), semi-precious stones and metals. Quartz pebbles were ground, mixed with alkali, molded and fired to resemble gems. Minerals added included copper (turquoise), cobalt (lapis lazuli). The alkali salts in the material caused the minerals to migrate to the surface, producing a "self-glazing" colored material. Sometimes clay was added to enhance plasticity, but rarely in Egypt. Ushabtis were placed in tombs as "helpers."--often with sickles to cut grain, perform duties for dead pharaoh. Other common uses for faience included votive objects for Goddess Hathor--chalices, lotus motif.

Please note: this image is out of sequential order--I decided on it a bit later and can not seem to insert it into its proper place. It should be pretty easy to figure out!

Midterm Study Image 2009/13 Ayanaar Horse

2009-09-10T17:28:00.000-07:00

Tamil Nadu, India. Ayanaar horse, terra cotta, life size, 20th c.

These magnificent life-sized sculptures of horses are made in the southern part of India in Tamil Nadu. They are fired in situ and can be as tall as 4 metres high. Making, firing and initiating these figures are all connected with spiritual rituals governed by tradition handed down for generations.Massive terracotta Horse. Environs of Puthur, Tamilnadu, South India. This fifty year old massive clay image was fired on site. Because the fired surfaces are porous a solution of oxides used as colorants are easily absorbed and thus made durable. Fifty years have altered them only slightly. Although the annual rains soak the porous clay, no harm results because Tamilnadu never freezes. In other climates water penetrating the clay could freeze and expand causing disintegration within a season.For more information, please see: http://www.ceramicstoday.com/articles/clay_horses.htm

Midterm Study Image 2009/12 Whistling Vessel

2009-09-10T17:26:00.000-07:00

Peru, south coast. Double-chambered whistling vessel depicting an owl, , Early Middle Horizon (CE 650-750).

Most whistling vessels have been found in pristine shape in graves; forms often imitate particularly “vocal” animals such as parrots, owls, monkeys—whistle suggests their sounds.Stirrup spout or handle distinct feature throughout region and time. Pots take many forms, mold-made—animals, fruits, vegetables, sea shells, humans. Often greywares, smudged (not true reduction), coarse temper. Textiles in region highly developed—also work in gold, copper, silver. First whistling pots appear.

Midterm Study Image 2009/11 Moche Stirrup pot

2009-09-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

Peru. Moche: Huari. Stirrup spout bottle in form of jaguar with captive warrior; Early Intermediate period, 300-600 CE.

Mochica (CE l00-1200)--most important, near Chicama river (north coast), related to other groups living in south by Nazca valley, Paracas. Outstanding plastic wares—eventually, most are mold-made, many nearly identical with some variety in finish—delicate stirrup spout, some with flat bridges, often in shape of human or animal head, dippers and corn poppers.

Midterm Study Image 2009/10 Lucy Lewis

2009-09-10T17:20:00.000-07:00

New Mexico, Lucy Lewis, Rounded pot, earthenware/painted decoration c. 1970.

Lucy Martin Lewis (b Acoma Pueblo, NM, c. 1895; d 12 March 1992). Native American potter. As a child she made and sold Acoma polychrome pottery, which by 1900 had deteriorated into tourist wares such as vases and ashtrays, but in the 1930s she began working in the Acoma pottery tradition of the 19th century, making jars with a red-slip base and white-slip body that were decorated with the bird and flower motifs that had been common from c. 1880. In the 1940s she adapted designs from prehistoric ceramics: non-figurative motifs from Hohokam and Anasazi wares (5th–13th centuries) and figurative designs from Mimbres wares (10th–13th centuries). From the former she adopted repetitive fine-line patterning that covered the entire body of the vessel as well as ‘negative’ patterns in white slip against a black painted background with occasional orange accents. Working in the coil-and-scrape method with the dense grey clay of the Acoma area tempered with ground potsherds, Lewis produced miniature pots, seed jars, bowls, animal effigies and water jars, all rarely more than 250 mm in height. Several coats of white slip were applied, and each coat was polished with a wet stone until the slip was opaque. Paints made from ground minerals with a binder of boiled vegetal matter were applied with a chewed yucca-leaf brush. The vessels were then fired outdoors using dried cow dung. Until her death she continued to work at her home in McCartys, NM, assisted by her daughters. (From Groves Art Online)Lucy Lewis is regarded as the matriarch of Acoma pottery and alongside Maria Martinez, is one of the best known Southwestern potters. She started making pottery around the turn of the century, continuing a tradition dating back hundreds, if not thousands of years. Pottery of the Southwest was generally coil built, molded or modelled and low-fired. Lucy derived her designs - painted on with colored slips - from shards found in the Kivas of the pueblo and Anasazi and Mimbres pottery she studied in the Museum of New Mexico. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally, including at the Smithsonian State and City Museums, Princeton University and the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. For more information on Lucy Lewis and other Native American Women Potters, have a look at Pottery by American Indian Women by Susan Peterson. (Ceramics Today, http://www.ceramicstoday.com/articles/lewis.htm)

Midterm Study Image 2009/9 Mimbres Culture

2009-09-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

New Mexico. Mimbres, Mogollon Culture. Bowl depicting a mythological scene of a crane swallowing a decapitated human head. 12.7 x 22.9 cm. CE 950-1150.

Mimbres Black-on-White is perhaps the most recognizable of the southwestern types of pottery, most likely because it is the only type which consistently bears figural subject matter. Animals, insects, fish, humans and mythological subjects are common. These beasts are usually highly conventionalized, and often resemble those found in pictographs, or rock art. Though many have studied these figures, no one has provided a convincing explanation of their meaning.Geometric motifs are just as common. These usually consist of a band of decoration extending partway into the bowl. Some bowls have allover decoration. Fine lines and relative intricacy distinguish this type from the earlier Mangas Black-on-White.

Midterm Study Image 2009/8 Roman Lead Glazed

2009-09-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

Rome, Three vessels, lead glaze, mold-made with relief, 1 c. BCE-1 c CE

Three Roman vessels, all with vitreous glaze. Double-handled cup with applied scales CE 20-70, said to be from Arles, France; Double-handled vase c. CE 70-100, said to be from Tharros; singled-handled cup decorated with imbricated leaves, from Asia Minor, 1st. C CE. Height (tallest) 17.5 cm.

Such wares were regarded as luxury items. (note differences in place of origin, date)This form of drinking cup, with deep body and ring handles with thumb-rests, is known as a skyphos. It was a popular shape, made in metal, pottery and glass during the later Hellenistic and early Roman periods (about 150 BC- AD 100). The cup is covered by a thick glaze of lead silicate glass, which firing conditions turned a deep rich green on the exterior, and honey brown on the interior. The process of producing and firing such vessels was complicated by the adhesive nature of the glaze, which would bond itself to anything it touched in the kiln. The solution lay in firing the vessels upside-down, supported from the inside by three small prongs on a tall stand. The marks left on the interior are small, but drops of congealed glaze which formed when the vessel was inverted appear on the rim. Lead-glazed pottery was one of the few genuinely glazed ceramics of antiquity. At first they were almost certainly made in imitation of metal tableware. The earliest mass-produced and mould-made lead-glazed wares were made in Tarsus, Smyrna and other cities in Asia Minor from the late second century BC. From the late first century BC production centres were established in Italy, in the northern Adriatic and around Rome and Naples. From there the technique was exported to the Empire, from the Danube provinces to Gaul, Germany and Britain. Height: 7 cm ; Restoration can be highly deceptive. At first sight and even under careful scrutiny, this drinking vessel appears entirely preserved. However, under low magnification using a microscope, brush marks are visible on the handles. Under ultraviolet (UV) light, the two handles fluoresce a bright, light blue, showing that they had been painted, whereas the rest of the vessel was glazed. The paint indicates that the handles had been restored. It is not possible to tell from visual examination whether the handles are completely restored or if they are partly restored with heavy over-painting. This seems to be an example of intentional faking. However, the appearance of the handles is thought to be representative of how they may have originally looked. Since the restoration was not causing any damage to the pottery it was not removed. S. Buys and V. Oakley, The conservation and restoration of ceramics (Oxford, Butterworth Heinemann, 1993).

Midterm Study Image 2009/7 Roman Arretine ware

2009-09-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

Roman Arretine ware, red slip earthenware, mold-made footed bowl, 1c BCE-1 c CE

Stemmed bowl, krater, Roman, from Arezzo. Earthenware, red gloss ware, decorated in relief with rows of beads, wreaths, rosettes and figures which represent the seasons. Signed by potter Cb. Ateius. Height 18.7 cm.

Red Gloss Wares: begin with Augustan/Imperial age, influenced by Hellenistic designs (figures in relief, scrolls, garlands, floral designs—black-slipped Megarian ware), often produced by Greek workers (have signature seals, industry records). Red gloss slip easier to fire than black—called terra sigillata—from sigillum (seal)--stamped designs. As with Greeks, made elaborate embossed and incised molds from plaster and fired clay—threw clay inside molds, feet, rims etc. added separately.Roman factories were able to impose standardization through the use of fine, calcareous clays that fired to a consistent quality over a range of temperatures ranging from 850-1050 degrees C common to wood fired updraft kiln. The decoration was achieved through impressing the designs onto the interior of a mould, and the vessel was then thrown in the mould which was mounted on a potter's wheel. This production technique allowed vessels to be produced uniformly in large numbers, usually by workshops in which ten to fifteen potters worked simultaneously.Glossy surface is achieved by use of a very fine slip oxidized to sealing-wax red. Micrograph of sherd of Eastern Gaulish sigillata shows open, partially-vitrified body and vitreous slip. The two adhere well with the resulting tough “non-stick” surface that made this ware popular for the table. (PMCT p.191)

Midterm Study Image 2009/6 Bronze-Age Britain

2009-09-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

England, Group of Bronze-Age vessels, Urns and Beakers c. 1500-1000 BCE. 20cm.

Late Iron Age cremation burials in Britain.

Bronze Age pottery from Britain, showing a wide range of surface colours, dependent upon firing conditions. To the left are two globular urns. One is oragne and oxidised, showing a blackened area through contact with the fuel. The other is heavily smudged, due to carbon deposited in reduction. The beakers to the right show a range of incised and impressed decoration; once again, the firing effects are highly variable.One of the major changes that took place in the last 150 years of the Iron Age in Britain was that people in south-eastern England began to use new funeral rituals. People were cremated and buried in a grave along with pots, food and other items. Often the graves were in a small cemetery. This type of funeral rite was the same as that used by people who lived in north-east France (Gallo-Belgica) at this time. Many of the Iron Age British objects in The British Museum come from the excavation of these cremation graves. The grave goods were placed in the grave for the dead person to use in the next life. Most of the objects are connected with dress and appearance or with eating and drinking. They include brooches, mirrors and personal hygiene sets with items such as nail cleaners and tweezers. The grave goods also include cups, beakers, flagons and plates. Offerings of food and, perhaps, drink were also given.The more important the person's family was, the more grave goods were placed in the grave. Important families also placed rarer and more costly items in graves, such a foreign pottery, wooden 'buckets', mirrors, metal vessels made in Roman Italy and complete amphorae of wine. The graves from Welwyn, Welwyn Garden City and Hartford Heath are examples of burials of the most important ruling families. Graves such as those from Aylesford, Alkham and the grave from King Harry Lane shown here were those of middle ranking families. The poorest families could only bury their dead with, perhaps, just one locally made pot or a single brooch.

Midterm Study Image 2009/4 Gerzean Ware

2009-09-10T17:04:00.000-07:00

Pre-Dynastic Egypt, Gerzean ware . Late Predynastic period. (Naqada II), 3600-3250 BCE

Pot decorated with a boat Height: 22.900 cm Width: 20.200 cm (max.)

The pink colour of the fabric of this vessel is typical of the marl clay obtained from the desert areas of Egypt. Vessels with rounded or tapered bases were common in the Predynastic period, and occurred throughout Egyptian history. These pots were supported on a stand or were placed in a depression made in the sand.The exterior is decorated with stylized representations in red ochre paint. The simple abstract patterns and spirals of the earliest examples were probably imitating vessels made of a hard stone such as breccia. The multiple wavy lines around the neck of this example, may represent water.The motifs used in later scenes include birds, animals, people and boats. The stylized boat on this vessel is typical of this period. It has a basic long curved shape, with strokes coming off it to represent oars. The two structures in the centre are probably cabins or shrines, one with an emblem like the later standards that represented different districts. Human figures are sometimes depicted near the cabins. These are often women, who are interpreted as dancers because they have their arms raised above their heads

Midterm Study Image 2009/3 Predynastic Egypt

2009-09-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

Pre-Dynastic Egypt. Burnished black-topped redware jar. Late Predynastic period, Naqada II, around 3200 BC 31.5 x 17.7 cm.

A container for food for the Afterlife? From a tomb at Abydos, Egypt. These black-topped redware jars are characteristic of the finewares of the later Predynastic period. Burials of the late Predynastic period contain vessels of both fine and coarse wares. Even burials in the cemeteries of the poor often contained a black-topped vessel. They were perhaps filled with food for the Afterlife. The pots were made by coiling ropes of clay to build jars, bowls and bottles. The inside and outside of the vessel were smoothed and red ochre slip was applied. This produced a red colour if enough oxygen was available in the kiln. The black top was achieved by placing the vessel upside down in the kiln, so that the ashes of the fuel stopped oxygen reaching the slip. This resulted in a black colour. The vessel was burnished (polished using a hard object, like a pebble) to produce a shiny finish. Archaeological evidence from Hierakonpolis shows that fineware vessels were fired in special kilns, located in the desert valleys close to the source of the clay used to make them. Potters seem to have specialized in either coarse or fine pottery. The 'crescent-thumb' potter, so-called after his maker's mark, produced only coarse ware vessels. He lived and worked close to his clay source, setting out his wares in front of his house.

Midterm Study Image 2009/2 Hassuna Period

2009-09-10T16:53:00.001-07:00

Mesopotamia, Hassuna Period, Painted bowls from Samarra c. 6300-6000 BCE.

Proto-Hassuna not that well fired--black core indicates 600-700 degrees C. for one hour, likely in bonfires (no evidence of kilns found). Produced in small villages. Hassuna ware fired better--vestigial kilns--sunken firebox, clay grate, wares separated from fire, sloping stoke hole--upper part likely temporary (piled pot shards etc.) Kilns clustered away from houses in separate district. We don’t know who made them. Samarra ware 6300-6000 BCE--central Mesopotamia--towns enclosed by ditch--extended families--houses up to 14 rooms. Labour coordinated for irrigation etc.--settlements self-sufficient in ceramics--lots of kiln sites, wasters, 850-1050 Celsius. Decoration in red or black or bichrome imitates textiles, basketry, whirling style, bulls etc. Breakage repaired--valuable, but not as valued as stone vessels (found in graves). Some potters’ marks indicate existence of limited trade--pots found around region. There seems to be little agreement about the exact dates of the Samarra culture as well as its precise cultural and ethnic makeup. Extensive evidence of irrigation indicates investment in crop farming, permanent settlements and complex social organization. Samarra culture is noted for its fine painted pottery decorated in dark coloured backgrounds with figures of animals - birds - people and geometric designs. This type of pottery was first recognized at Samarra but was thought to be a southern variant of the Hassuna Culture. It now seems Samarra was roughly contemporary with late Hassuna and early Halaf culture, which built over Hassuna sites. Some archaeologists believe Samarran colonization of the southerly lowland area led to the development of the later Ubaid culture (which later absorbed Halaf to the north.)

Midterm Study Images 2009/1 Hacilar, Turkey

2009-09-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

Haçilar, Turkey. Earthenware pots, hand-built, decorated c. 5000 BCE.

Possibly from Hacilar, modern TurkeyThis painted jar, shaped like a female figure, is similar to a type of pottery found at Hacilar, excavated by James Mellaart between 1957 and 1960. The potters at this site were able to produce high-quality wares with beautifully executed, bright geometric designs. The ceramics were well shaped and were evenly fired. Along with jars and bowls, clay female figurines were common. However, the only vessels of this type excavated at Hacilar were much larger and fragmentary.Pottery workshops were found in a earlier level at Hacilar, in the village centre. Grindstones were used to break up the natural pigments of red and yellow ochre for colouring the pottery. Alongside them were cups of paint, storage areas for the clay and modeling tools, and unpainted but burnished pottery. No kilns were discovered and the firing may have taken place outside the settlement. This type of pottery has also been found at other sites in western Anatolia, and at Mersin, on the south-east coast of Turkey.By the beginning of the fifth millennium BC, Hacilar had been abandoned, and with the end of the settlement came an end to the fine pottery tradition. Height: 11.5 cm Width: 6.7 cm.

2009-07-16T13:47:00.001-07:00

Hello All,
After a year in which the course did not run, I am again looking forward to teaching the History of Ceramic Practice at ECU again! I will leave much of the blog from 2007 in place but will post the new course outline, new test images and other material as the fall approaches. I look forward to meeting my new students and learning more about their interest and hopes for this course. Stay tuned!
Amy

Industry in Britain

2007-11-17T17:18:00.000-08:00

Great Britain 1700-1800: Industrial Revolution brings huge changes to industry. Eventually, small potteries can not compete, but this encourages development of genuinely alternate "art pottery" or studio potters. Technical improvements introduced into Staffordshire (main pottery area): Stoneware produced by John Dwight and Elers brothers (from Holland) end of 17th c--lathe-turned, precise shapes influenced by Chinese Yixing wares. Calcined flint added to make white body, salt glaze stoneware. Creamware perfected by Wedgwood--low fire earthenware, cheap, light colour takes decoration, industrial parallels development of consumer culture, emphasis on dining, etiquette, fashion. Creamwares after 1760 revolutionize tablewares available to middle classes, replace tin glaze.
Ralph Daniel introduces plaster of Paris from Continent for molds in 1740s--used for press molding salt glaze wares (slip casting not economical until introduction of deflocculants in 19th c.). Transfer printing introduced 1753. First used on enamels, but adapted to pottery. Copper plate printed ink on tissue or oil on gelatin bat. Oil transferred to pot, dusted with oxides for colour. Allowed for efficient, mass-produced decoration, popularity of prints (Hogarth and others), political commentary, souvenir jugs etc. Thomas Whieldon (1719-95) "agate wares" (white clay body coloured with iron, manganese, cobalt—clay wedged together to marbleize, imitate stone) and "tortoiseshell wares" (glaze colours dusted on, mix with streaky glaze). Enoch Booth introduces biscuit firing, which allows pots to be produced one place, decorated at another.
Redware, or red stoneware, was a popular type of unglazed pottery in the mid-eighteenth century in many parts of Europe, especially the Low Countries and England. It was principally intended to imitate Chinese tablewares for the preparation and serving of tea. In Stafforsdshire, the preparation of the red clays, using local Stafforsdshire clays which fired at a high temperature, had been perfected at the end of the seventeenth century by the Dutch brothers John Philip and David Elers. They produced exceptionally finely made teapots, mugs and tea canisters. The subsequent manufacture in the 1760s of unglazed red 'useful' wares was one of the ways in which Josiah Wedgwood established his name as a potter in the late eighteenth century. Wedgwood refined the body, and called it “rosso antico.” The most common surviving pieces are mugs, tankards, teapots and coffeepots. Shapes were made using plaster moulds.
Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795): brilliant innovator, businessman, encourages canals, opposes slavery, supports French/American revolutions (real paradox!). Capitalizes on vogue for consumer goods, neoclassical decorative wares, improves creamware body--"Queensware"--admired by Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. "Frog Service" 1773 for Catherine the Great of Russia. Designs often based on metalwares, pierced wares, transfer printed. Jasperware: body coloured with cobalt other minerals (later, just dipped)--designs by leading neoclassical artists, copied from archaeological designs published by Sir William Hamilton and others from Pompeii, Herculaneum--used in furniture, tea services, jewellery, decorative vases—extremely elaborate and ornate.
Wedgwood produced a copy of the celebrated Portland Vase in black-and-white jasper-ware. The original, attributed to the Roman gem-cutter Dioskourides, is in the style of works made between 30 and 20 B.C. After its discovery in the late sixteenth century in the tomb of the Emperor Septimius Severus, it became one of the most admired works of antiquity and passed through an illustrious series of collections, among them those of Cardinal Barberini, Sir William Hamilton, and finally, the duchess of Portland, who donated it to the British Museum. The iconography remains a mystery, though many interpretations have been offered. A recent theory is that the frieze depicts (as the vessel is turned) Peleus entering to meet Thetis in the presence of her parents and Aphrodite and that the vase was made as a wedding present for the Emperor Augustus's daughter Julia on her marriage to Marcus Claudius Marcellus, her cousin, in 25 B.C. Wedgwood continued to issue editions of the vase throughout the 19th and 20th c.
The research of Josiah Wedgwood I (1730-95), and his experiments with various types of clays and methods of firing led to the production of creamware from the early 1760s. Wares made at Wedgwood in Burslem were sent to Liverpool to John Sadler (1720-89) and Guy Green (retired 1799) to be decorated with transfer prints.

French Porcelain

2007-11-17T17:17:00.000-08:00

French Porcelain: Develops under court patronage. Soft-paste porcelain—made without the ingredient kaolin—was first manufactured in France in the late 17th century. No source of kaolin in France until 1768; soft paste still favoured until 19th c. Several important factories were founded, most around Paris. The earliest commercial porcelain was made at Saint-Cloud in about 1693. The Chantilly factory was founded by Louis-Henry de Bourbon, prince de Condé (1692–1740) in 1730. Chantilly moves to Vincennes (1738).
At bequest of Mme. Pompadour (favorite of Louis XV) moved to Sevres outside Paris 1756. Sevres granted exclusive privilege to make wares "in the style of Saxony" (Meissen) for 20 years—no need to pursue commercial success. Completely tied to system of power, intrigue of court. Employs hundreds of workers, some of greatest French artists, 7 specialist workshops—fashionable decorative objects, special effects--reserves ("camaieu") painted with fantasy scenes-Chinoiserie, rococo influence--potpourris, garnitures, plaques, opera glasses, ice buckets, table wares.
At the château of Vincennes, east of Paris, in 1740, under the aristocratic patronage of Jean-Louis Orry de Fulvy (1703-51), a soft-paste porcelain factory was established by former Chantilly workmen, In 1745, the factory, under Charles Adam, Orry de Fulvy’s valet, was granted a 20-year royal privilege to manufacture porcelain painted in the Meissen style with figures and gilding. Following Orry de Fulvy’s death, the factory experienced financial difficulties but began a new phase in 1752 when Louis XV, king of France (1723-74) acquired one quarter of the shares. The factory was then renamed the manufacture du roi (royal manufactory) and was granted official permission to mark its pieces with the royal cipher of interlaced L’s. In 1756 the factory moved to Sèvres.
Sèvres: In 1756 the factory of Vincennes relocated to Sèvres, a village near Versailles close to the château of Bellevue, owned by Madame de Pompadour (1721-64) the mistress of Louis XV and an important patron. In 1759 Louis XV took over complete financial control of the factory. A goldsmith, Jean-Claude Duplessis (c.1695-1774) was appointed as the artistic director of sculpture. The factory’s products were strongly influenced by the designs of François Boucher (1703-70), whose graceful, rococo style superseded imitations of Meissen and Asian porcelain.
In 1769 Sèvres began producing hard-paste porcelain, following the discovery of kaolin at Saint-Yrieix, near Limoges, in 1765. Although restrictions on the establishment of porcelain factories in France were relaxed to encourage the development of hard-paste porcelain, Sèvres retained its royal patronage and excusive right to produce sculptural, multi-coloured and gilded porcelain. The factory was nationalized in 1793, following the abolition of the monarchy, and is still in existence today.
Coloured grounds: rose pompadour, bleu celeste, bleu lapis. Inkstand: 1758, soft paste, green ground, decorated with cherubs, gilding-likely made for daughter of Louis XV, Mme Adelaide—crown once contained bell; terrestrial globe-ink; celestial globe contained sand-sprinkled through holes to dry ink on page-little cameo of Louis XV on side. Wallace Collection (London-collected Sevres especially with aristocrats fleeing Revolution). 19th c. under Alexander Broignart, factory abandons soft paste for hard. More "high-tech," clean, industrial, imitate any material: virtuosity and luxury. Soft paste examples from ancien regime highly sought after by wealthy reliving fantasy of past.

German Porcelain

2007-11-17T17:16:00.002-08:00

German Porcelain: First "true" or hard paste porcelain produced in Europe 1709 under Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland by goldsmith and alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger. Initial experiments produce high-fire red stoneware, could be carved, polished. Often based on designs by Johann Jakob Irminger for metalwares. Böttger discovers use of kaolin to make true porcelain paste ("arcanum"—see great book, The Arcanum by Janet Gleeson). Meissen factory employs 500 people by end of century. Unpainted blanks smuggled out or sold to be decorated by independent artists--Hausmaler tradition ("house painters").
Most important Meissen designer Johann Joachim Kandler--creates numerous table figures based on Italian comedy (commedia dell'arte—stock characters wealthy merchant Pantaloon, beautiful Columbine, jester Harlequin) and pastoral shepherd groups (after French painters Watteau, Boucher), heraldic animals decorate Japanese palace of Augustus (large, difficult to fire, often cracked—based on actual animal studies), Swan service for Count von Bruhl. Johann Gregor Horroldt--major painter, develops overglaze colours (1669-1775) Porcelain also produced in Nymphenburg (Swiss modeler, Franz Anton Bustelli), Berlin, Vienna.
The first European hard-paste porcelain factory was founded in 1710 in Dresden by decree of Augustus II (1670-1733), King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, as a result of the successful porcelain experiments of Johann Friedrich Böttger (1682-1719), and Ehrenfried Walther, Count von Tschirhausen (1651-1708). Following Böttger’s death, the factory was administered by Johann Melchior Steinbrück, who appointed Johann Gregor Höroldt (1696-1775) as manager of the decorators’ workshop.
After 1731, the factory was directed by a treasury board, under the presidency of the king. In 1733, the factory came under the direction of Heinrich, Count von Brühl (1700-63), with whose patronage the outstanding modeler Johann Friedrich Kändler (1706-75) developed the medium of small-scale sculpture in European porcelain. The factory was disastrously affected by the Seven Years War (1756-63), and fell gradually into decline and financial hardship, reviving in the late 19th century. The factory survives today.
Overglaze enamels: Under the direction of Johann Höroldt, Meissen greatly expanded the color palette available for decoration. First a piece of porcelain would be fired to high temperature On on top of this hard, fired surface, overglazes would be applied. Overglaze colors are very low temperature glazes, mixtures of glass, lead, binder, and pigment. The lead acts as a flux, melting the glass at a very low temperature (around 1300° F). The binder used was often a thick (very toxic, turpentine-based) oil, which would allow the overglaze to 'stick' to the glazed surface.
During the firing the oil would burn away, leaving the melted glaze sitting on top of the previously fired high temperature glaze. Pigments used were the usual oxides of iron, cobalt, copper, manganese, antimony, and chrome. By blending and mixing these colors, Höroldt was able to create a rich and nuanced palette of colors with which to work. The main advantage of overglazing is that colors that cannot be achieved at porcelain temperatures can be attained at this lower temperature. The main disadvantage is their relative impermanence. Abrasion will cause the color to wear away.

European Porcelain

2007-11-17T17:16:00.001-08:00

Hard Paste porcelain: original formula, developed in China under T'ang—vitrified mixture of kaolin (low iron, high alumina clay, china stone—quarz, mica and feldspar). Glazes include lime, feldspar—fires at about 1300C.
Soft Paste porcelain: ("pate tendre") low clay content, high quartz, glass frit, lime or gypsum—fires lower (1240 C or lower)—not as strong, slumps, cracks, but beautiful effects with glazes—used in France 18th c (Sevres) and Britain (Bow, Chelsea etc.).
Hard paste porcelain (“true porcelain”) consists of a “triaxial” blend of quartz, feldspar and kaolin. Fired at 1300 C, a dense vitreous body with an iron content less than 1% results in a white, translucent and very strong porcelain. Soft-paste porcelain is produced by a very different method, which was in common use around Paris by the mid-18th century. Soda ash, sea salt, potassium nitrate, silica and lime (or gypsum) were milled together and heated for 30 or more hours to form a white opaque product. The alkali and quartz react to produce an alkali silicate glass using a sintering technique very similar to that used since the 10th c. to make maiolica and faience glazes.
After 1750, calcined alum was added to provide a further source of potassia and alumina. The mixture was washed to remove any un-reacted alkali, as soluble alkali would migrate to the surface and cause blemishes. The sinter was milled wet and combined with 16.5% white limestone and 8.3% washed, decanted calcareous marl clay from Argenteuil, which added plasticity. This mixture was dried, wedged and stored for several months to ferment organic constituents and to improve plasticity. In this state, the material could be moulded.
However, to throw the material, black soap and parchment glue were added to increase green strength. Thrown ware was trimmed in the bone-dry rather than leather-hard state. This created dust that was very dangerous to the lungs. Soft-paste wares were fired for periods of up to 90 hours at temperatures of about 1240 C or lower. Soft-paste porcelains are generally twice-fired; lead- alkai-silicate, lead-silicate or lead-borosilicate glazes are applied to biscuit wares and re-fired to a lower temperature (Ceramic Masterpieces, Kingery and Vandiver).

Bone china: developed by Josiah Spode c. 1800--up to 50% bone ash, equal parts china clay, feldspar--ideal for casting, economical. By 1825, used extensively in Britain. Bisqued at around 1250C, then glazed and refired at around 1080C. Used lead-borosilicate glaze.
Wedgwood's cream ware/pearlware: Improved existing earthenware body after 1763--refined ball clay, calcined flint (pure silica withstands higher temperature), china stone/ china clay. Glazes lead-soda. cobalt added to glaze after 1779 to produce pearlware.
The first porcelain in Europe: In Florence, Grand Duke Francesco de'Medici (died 1587) was recorded in 1575 as having found the secret of making porcelain after years of trials and experiment. This is generally considered the first European porcelain, although the body and glaze are in fact based on Near Eastern and maiolica techniques. The paste formula and the high temperatures required in the firing kilns were difficult to achieve, and the project proved extremely costly: after Francesco's death, production dwindled.

German Salt Glaze

2007-11-17T17:15:00.000-08:00

Germany: Salt-Glaze: Rhineland early centre of Roman occupation, pottery traditions. Large scale production by 7th c.; kiln improvements in 9th made for tougher wares. Stoneware (steinzeug) produced between 1000-1200 CE—first in Europe (China: 500 BCE). Area favoured with wood supply, stoneware clays, river transport, population base, bronze-working traditions. Developments relate to brewing industry—introduce hops c. 1500—big upsurge in beer consumption requires hygienic, sturdy wares. Canette--in Germany, short fat pint; Schnelle: ("fast")--tall, tapering mug; Bellarmines (face modelled on neck—satirize Cardinal opposed to drinking).
By the sixteenth century workshops in Siegburg, Raren, Cologne and elsewhere were producing highly artistic wares applied with moulded decoration of mythological and biblical scenes, often based on contemporary engravings, or naturalistic foliate ornament, political images and armorial devices. Siegburg was renowned for the production of an almost white stoneware with delicately modelled relief decoration in the Renaissance style. Merchants from Cologne were granted licence from 1570 to transport and sell Siegburg stoneware to merchants in Hamburg.
Salt glaze--at stoneware temperatures (1100-1200C), salt added to kiln decomposes to form sodium oxide and hydrogen chloride—released as (noxious) gas—sodium fluxes with silica and aluminum in pot surface, forms tough, thin, shiny glaze--colour based on reduction/oxidization and iron content of clay. Salt firings on this scale environmentally bad: chlorine gases unhealthy. (note: many contemporary studio potters use salt glaze, but on a much smaller scale, in which case the environmental effects are less concerning.) Salt glaze likely produced by 1400s, but first dated ware 1539. Control by trade unions, foreigners only for menial tasks, limit supply.
Defining characteristics of Salt Glaze: use of molds; originals cut in fine sandstone, impressions taken in pipe clay--double negative (to protect original mold)--crisp, detailed. Clay mined from shafts, salt imported from Low Countries (used to salt Newfoundland cod). Wares wheel-thrown, profiles crisped up with templates, bone tools. Colour added—"scratch blue" cobalt frit (smalt) rubbed into incised lines. Production of wares stimulated by improvements in beer (addition of hops). Potteries disrupted by Thirty years war (1618-48), relocate. Main centres: Seigburg—throw marks, pie crust foot, elaborate modelled friezes based on engravings, developing print culture, white-burning clays. Raeren brown salt-glaze imitated bronze, often friezes modelled, pious inscriptions around waists.
Jan Emens Mennicken active 1566-1594--best-known-classical scenes, nudes, festival and religious scenes. Wares widely exported. Koln: early centre, dark chestnut pots—dispute with potters; they move to Freschen. Kannenbacherland--land of potters--in Westerwald where potters fled to avoid war—produced Seigburg-style wares—grey or blue-grey, intricate engravings, pious sayings—eventually more geared towards colour (fashions change).
Kreussen (Bavaria): most elaborate, costly salt-glaze—inspired by/compete with maiolica, overglaze enamels—colourful, popular 1620-1750. Salt-glaze wore silverware down, eventually replaced by maiolica, creamwares in 18th c.

More on Tin Glaze

2007-11-17T17:13:00.000-08:00

Netherlands: tiles, pottery first made at Antwerp by Italian émigré potters 16th c. --closely related to Italian traditions. Founding of VOC (Dutch East India Company) introduced Chinese porcelain--Dutch compete with Delftware--get boost from collapse of Ming. Potters admitted to Guild of St. Luke on basis of painting skill--often copy engravings, portraits, landscape, figural works, genre--use quality clays, industrial methods to produce quality product. Tiles popular in kitchens on walls (Spanish, Italians had used on floors)--hygienic, easy to clean.
Flower holders specially designed to accommodate tulips--pyramid shape, interlocking parts with water holders, spout-shaped necks for blooms--pyramids symbolized the “glory of the Prince” (in Emblem tradition--Caesare Ripa)--also called to mind Roman/Egyptian obelisks, Chinese pagodas. Most exuberant examples produced by van Eenhorn family with Adrien Kocks--popular for funerals, weddings, all sorts of celebrations, display. First mentioned in household inventories of wealthy between 1654-1668. Popularized with English court with accession to throne of William and Mary (Glorious Revolution, 1688--Mary huge fan of blue and white porcelain, Delftware.)
Tin-glazed earthenwares had been imported into England from the Mediterranean from the 13th century. They were called galleywares, probably because they were imported on ships. In 1567 Jaspar Andries and Jacob Janson (dates unknown) arrived in England from Antwerp, and in 1571 they applied for permission to establish a maiolica pottery in London, and helped to introduce the tin-glaze technique to England. It involved coating fired earthenware with a layer of glaze that was opacified with oxides of tin. The resulting fragile white surface was ideal for decoration with colours that were fired at the same time as the glaze. This style of pottery, which had spread all over Europe from Italy, is now known as delftware. There were three principal centres for the production of delftware in England in the 17th and 18th centuries: London, Bristol and Liverpool. (Gar.)
England: John Stow’s Survey of London 1603 reports religious refugees from Antwerp making Delftware in London--also made floor tiles, “apothecaries” (drug jars, albarellos, mortar and pestles etc.) Tin-glaze produced in Aldgate (East Anglia) and Southwark (London) by Flemish potters early 17th to late 18th c. --hard to tell Dutch and other foreign examples. Lambeth, Bristol other important centres--exported to Indies, Americas. Many potteries small family businesses; produced figures, decorated plates, puzzle jugs, candle holders etc.--tendency to chip limited use--surviving objects usually for display. Eventually replaced by Staffordshire creamwares late in 18th c.

Bernard Palissy

2007-11-17T17:11:00.000-08:00

Bernard Palissy (1510-1590): Amateur scientist, theologian (Hugenot), potter, artist--invented ways of casting from life, developed innovative glazes based on tin and lead. Faced religious persecution most of his life but also produced wares for aristocracy--grottos (for Anne de Montmorency, Catherine de Medici), “rustic wares” (often snakes, crayfish, turtles, lizards, seashells, in marshy environment on large oval basins, platters--also pitchers). Naturalistic grottos actually contain complex allegories of his faith.
Bernard Palissy - artisan to kings, writer, savant, philosopher, lecturer, naturalist, religionist, scientist, and discoverer - was born in 1510. His father was probably an artisan because Palissy was able to draw and paint, skills that were often passed from father to son. A talented student, Palissy learned the arts of portraiture, stained-glass painting, cartography and possibly glassmaking. In the latter 1530s, Palissy settled in Saintes, a small town in southwestern France about sixty-five miles north of Bordeaux. There he married and raised his family of six children. Around 1539 or 1540, he was introduced to ceramics, an event that changed his life. He devoted the next decade to studying and developing a range of white enamel and coloured, lead-based glazes. This was no simple task, as little or nothing was known about chemistry, firing techniques or kilns.
Many colours burnt out while others under-fired. Finding technology that allowed a number of colours to be used on a single piece required extraordinary patience, method and constant experimentation. He and his family were often near starvation.
By about 1550, Palissy developed his "figulines rustiques," or rustic ware style of ceramics (the representation of pond life in naturalistic settings), for which he became renowned. He moulded his subjects: snakes, lizards, frogs, shells, fish, insects, leaves, and ferns--from actual specimens, colouring them with elaborate, multi-coloured glazes. His unique work soon attracted wealthy and powerful patrons, including the high constable Anne de Montmorency, the most powerful man in France next to the king.
France during this time was wracked by religious strife between Catholics and Protestants. In late 1562, the town of Saintes was pillaged by Catholic troops. Palissy's workshop was ravaged by a frenzied mob, his pottery was destroyed and he was arrested. He was saved from execution only by the intervention of Anne de Montmorency and the king, Charles IX. He was appointed Potter to the King and set about designing a garden grotto for Catherine de Medici's Palace de Tuilleries, on the site of the former tileworks. The project was abandonned in 1572 when religious strife again tore through France. Unfortunately, nothing remains of the grotto, but remnants of his studio were found during excavations at the Louvre in the mid-1980s.
Fearing for his life, Palissy left Paris for Sedan, where he continued to make ceramics and study natural history. Encouraged by the Peace of La Rochelle in 1573, he traveled to Paris and invited other scholars, philosophers, scientists and physicians to meet in free discussion. Palissy held the first open lectures on natural history ever delivered in Paris. Around 1576 or 1577 Palissy returned there to live. He continued to be persecuted for his faith and was imprisoned in the Bastille in 1588, where he died at the age of 80, having refused an offer of freedom in return for reverting to Catholicism. He continued to be a figure of speculation and interest, spawning many followers. The highpoint of interest in Palissy came in the 19th c., when interest in natural history and decorative arts led to a revival of Palissy ware.

European Tin Glaze

2007-11-17T16:56:00.000-08:00

Origins of European Tin-Glaze from Muslim technology Hispano-Moresque: Cordoba centre of Western world during Ummayad period (CE 756-1031). Around 1000, potters began to use tin-glaze on biscuit-fired pots. Lustres applied on third fire. Real upsurge in 13th c. as potters flee Mongol advance and come to Spain. Moslems reduced to southern Spain--cross-fertilization with Christian potters. Wares made at Malaga (Andalusia) and Valencia under Islamic influence. Later, Mudejar style (1450-1700) under Christian rule--fusion of Islamic and Gothic traditions. Often cobalt and lustre patterns--leaves, vines arranged in registers used on albarellos (drug jars)--Portinari Altar by Hugo van der Goes (1478). Crisp profiles, elaborate presentation, communal dining wares--exported in large quantities to Italy in Majorcan ships--possible origin of term Maiolica. Talavera de la Reina in central Spain popularized white glaze as “appetizing.” Royal patronage sent group to Mexico to start tradition.
The Islamic tradition of lustred earthenware was introduced into Europe in the workshops of Malaga, in Islamic southern Spain. By around 1400, the Christian region of Valencia had become the major centre of production. Large quantities were exported to Italy, particularly to the wealthy families of Tuscany, many of whom had trading links with Valencia. Many Italian families commissioned lustreware painted with their arms. Manises is a suburb of Valencia. Some of the finest lusterware ever produced was made here in the 14th and 15th centuries. These pieces incorporated Gothic motifs into Muslim designs, using Muslim technology, and are referred to as mudejares (or mudejar) style.
Italy: Wares from Islamic countries imported from early date--began to use tin-glaze themselves around 1300. Extensive trade between Tuscany and Barcelona. Valencia introduces mudejar style. Early maiolica very decorative—often oak leaf shape in raised, runny cobalt glaze on tin-glaze surface, heraldic animals—found on bulbous 2-handled drug jars. Major pottery centres develop at Castle Durante, Deruta, Cafaggiola, Faenza. Painters apply mineral paints to tin-glaze using popular prints, paintings as motifs--style called istoriato (historiated--narrative subjects)--mythological, religious, patriotic, popular images in orange, yellow, blue, manganese, purple/brown.
Lustres first made at Deruta--possibly introduced by Islamic potters fleeing Christian advance in Spain—only made at a few centres. Cipriano Piccolpasso wrote Three Books of the Potter’s Art—major source of textual and visual references to pottery techniques of the day. Major work produced by largest ateliers—required real skill, division of labour to decorate and fire properly (lots of wasters)--lead poisoning a real occupational hazard. Istoriato goes out of favour with Baroque—often are monochrome blue or yellow with grotesques--called Faience in France (after Faenza).
Religious wars/Reformation saw potters locating north, east --spread tin-glaze to Netherlands, Central Europe (Anabaptists/Haban wares), England. France, Germany, Netherlands. Duc de Berry (owned Très Riches Heures) brought potters from Spain to produce tin-glaze in 1432. Muslim potters fleeing Catholic inquisition come also to southern France--early French wares resemble Italian closely. Traditional maiolica (faience) called “in-glaze” as colours painted on unfired glaze and fuse with it. Covered with coperta (Italian) or kwaart (Dutch)--transparent lead glaze enhances brilliance, seals surface. Range of wares produced in emulation/competition with Chinese porcelain--tureens, stove tiles, decorative plates.

Notes on Islamic Ceramics

2007-11-17T16:53:00.000-08:00

Arabic Alphabet and numerals
The Arabic alphabet is written from right to left and consists of twenty-eight letters which are created from seventeen different letter shapes. In modern Arabic dots above and below letters help to distinguish them from each other. In early Arabic these dots were frequently omitted. Many of the letters change their shape depending on where they are situated within a word. Arabic numerals were developed in India in the fifth century AD and spread with Islam, replacing Roman numerals. In the ingenious Indo-Arabic method, any quantity could be represented by figures using a decimal point. The numerals, unlike the alphabet, are written from left to right. Their shapes have evolved over the centuries.
Arabic scripts
Following the revelation of Islam in the seventh century AD, Arabic was established as the language and script of the Muslim empire. Muslims must learn the Qur'an in its original Arabic. Therefore Arabic spread with Islam and was eventually used to write languages such as Persian (Iran), Urdu (India and Pakistan), Dari (Afghanistan), Ottoman Turkish (until 1928) and the languages of Indonesia and Malaysia (until recently). There are many different styles of Arabic scripts.
Kufic developed around the end of the seventh century in Kufa, Iraq (from which it takes its name) and other centres. Until about the eleventh century it was the main script used to copy Qur'ans. The simple and elegant forms were embellished over time. There are several variations on kufic script. It was particularly useful for decorative tile work and inscriptions.
As the decorative potential of Kufic was increasingly exploited, it became ever more difficult to read and was gradually abandoned for general use during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Rounded scripts were used since early Islamic times for everyday writing on papyrus for example, whereas Kufic was reserved for more formal public texts.
Naskh is the 'copyists' hand mainly used from the twelfth century for writing government documents and also for copying the Qur'an.
As the decorative potential of Kufic was increasingly exploited, it became ever more difficult to read and was gradually abandoned for general use during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Rounded scripts were used since early Islamic times for everyday writing on papyrus for example, whereas Kufic was reserved for more formal public texts.
Naskh is the 'copyists' hand mainly used from the twelfth century for writing government documents and also for copying the Qur'an.
First major Dynasty, Umayyad, centred in Syria (Damascus)—replaced by Abbasid, who move capital from Mediterranean and Classical influence to Middle Eastern capital at Baghdad. With fall of Umayyad, Egyptian potters bring technology of lead-based glazes to Baghdad—city rivals Constantinople for richness, elegance, sophistication. Harun al-Rashid (r. 786-809) in contact with Charlemagne in West and with T’ang Dynsasty in East. Tin-glaze invented to imitate Chinese porcelain.
The Abbasid made white vessels with simple decoration applied in blue were exported to China, where they inspired a new tradition of ‘blue-on-white’. Today this is perhaps the most characteristic ceramic style associated with China, but originally the Chinese did not know the cobalt-blue pigment, which they called ‘Muhammadan blue’. Over the centuries, this ‘blue-on-white’ tradition brought Europe ‘chinoiserie’ (again through the medium of the eastern Islamic lands – the Safavids were very keen on it!), and ultimately the ubiquitous ‘willow pattern’ (Ashmolean).
Islamic Lustre: Forms based on everyday utilitarian wares. Beauty is in the decoration--long-standing traditions of well-executed designs. All Islamic wares earthenware (including faience/fritware). Tin added to lead glaze to opacify white surface in emulation of imported T’ang Dynasty stonewares, Yuan and later porcelains. First use of cobalt, but design blurs in lead glaze. Lustre requires 2-3 firings: biscuit, tin-glaze, then low-fire (muffle kiln) lustre.

Lustre is mixture of metal oxide plus ochre. Under reduction, thin layer of pure metal deposited on surface. Ochre burnished to remove it. Islamic custom forbade use of gold or silver plates at table--lustreware next best thing. Difficult to control; only certain centres capable of producing it. Technology possibly derives from Egyptian glass making. Samarra: outside Baghdad, Abbasid capital--floral, geometric patterns, exported around Islamic world including Spain.
Production moves from Baghdad to Cairo (Fatimid court) to Spain, to Persia (Kashan wares)--widely traded. Kashan 25 miles south of Tehran, major centre, high technical and aesthetic standards. Lustre applied to artificial body (included glass frit) from 10th to 14th c. White body didn’t require masking slip or tin glaze. Can trace genealogies of potters for 400 years. Survived Mongol invasion because Mongolians liked fine crafts.
Other Iranian/Persian centres at Rayy (often on blue background), Gurgan (huge cache of wares hidden from Mongols in 1221—town decimated—rediscovered in 1942.) Seljuk Turks improved faience body--manual written 1301 discusses addition of quartz pebbles, potash frit and borax to imitate qingbai porcelains. Polychrome wares include minai (overglaze, designs based on manuscripts), haft-rang (over and underglaze colurs). Lustre tiles very popular for mosques, tombs.

Ceramics terms, glossaries

2007-10-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hello,
There are many convenient and easy-to-access ceramics glossaries on the web, so this post will give you a few. Note: every glossary is directed towards a particular audience--amateur, scholar, scientist, professional ceramist, so it might help to consult more than one. When using a definition from an on-line glossary, be sure to cite the source properly. For more help on citing electronic sources, consult the Writing Centre, or check the following helpful website:
Diana Hacker, Research and Documentation Online, http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/
From the drop-down menu, check "Humanities/Documenting Sources/ "MLA List of Work Cited."
Here are some helpful sites for ceramics terms:

Glossay of Ceramics Terms
http://www.jnevins.com/glossary.htm
very basic, more for the hobby potter than the historian or scholar (still, helpful first step)
Anth 461/761 Ceramic Analysis Glossary of Ceramic Terms
http://www.tulane.edu/~kidder/Anth%20461/ceramic%20terms.html
excellent, scholarly, cited for source--great for historian and more technical approach to ceramics
Ceramic Terms to know
http://www.pottery.netfirms.com/assignments/docs/ceram_glossary.doc
Usefully broken down into handbuilding terms, decorating terms, firing terms etc. Note: when you arrive at this site, you are asked if you wish to open or save it--just opening it is okay.

Good websites for ceramics research

2007-09-06T18:11:00.000-07:00

Good Websites on Ceramics AHIS.335/Instructor Amy Gogarty
The web has literally exploded with material on ceramics. Not all of it is useful--much is very commercial--but many universities and museums now have outstanding access to their collections and research on-line. I have listed sites that are useful for research/links and/or presentations. This is anything but comprehensive--we will collect and expand our “bookmarks” as the class goes on.

Classical Wares (Greek, Roman)

http://www.acad.ab.ca/assets/pdf/Programs/Ceramics/ACAD_Ceramics_Newsletter_Fall_2007.pdfUniversity of Colorado at Boulder, Classics Exhibits. Interesting material on pots, uses--“wining, dining and dying in ancient Greece,” good images of pots in collection etc. http://www.colorado.edu/Classics/exhibits/GreekVases/exhibit.htm

Potsherd: Atlas of Roman Pottery. Excellent, useful collection of pages on pottery and ceramics in archaeology, principally of the Roman period (1st cent. BC - 5th cent. AD) in Britain and western Europe. http://www.potsherd.uklinux.net/index.php
Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum--fabulous archive of over 100,000 classical vases in museum collections in Europe--a project of Union Académique Internationale, the Beazley Archive (Oxford U.) and other acadmic institutions. http://www.cvaonline.org/cva/projectpages/cva1.htm

Industrial Archaeology (Early-Modern Europe to 19th c.)
Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland. Good introduction to First Nations/pre-historic and European historic wares in Maryland--scientific analysis, good images shards, descriptions of wares. http://www.jefpat.org/diagnostic/index.htm

SMU Archaeology Lab Ceramics Database (St. Mary’s University, Nova Scotia). Similar approach to Maryland website, but for Nova Scotia/Canadian ceramics--very detailed, many 17th/18th c. ceramic wares described http://www.smu.ca/academic/arts/anthropology/ceramics/welcome.html

The Potteries.org--Stoke on line. Good introduction to historical archaeology of important site for production of British ceramics. http://www.thepotteries.org/index.html

Contemporary Studio Ceramics
One of the interesting new sites I will include here is for the ACAD Ceramics Newsletter. It comes out several times a year and provides information on professional activities of students, alumni and faculty--it gives a real sense of what fellow Canadian ceramic artists are doing in their field--check it out!
http://www.acad.ab.ca/assets/pdf/Programs/Ceramics/ACAD_Ceramics_Newsletter_Fall_2007.pdf

University of Wales Aberystwyth, Ceramic Collection (excellent for contemporary British studio ceramics). Computer data base for archives (pottery guilds, correspondence, sales, supplies etc.), should you have the opportunity to visit! http://www.aber.ac.uk/ceramics/index.htm

Interesting Chinese conceptual artist who uses ceramics
http://www.galerieursmeile.com/nav/top/artists/works/default.htm?view_ArtistItem_OID=18
Ai Weiwei constructs sculptures from discarded doors from Ming Dynasty houses or furniture, commenting on the way in which China is eating up its past in its rush to modernize. He also works with both new and historical ceramics--check out this good selection of his work at Gallerie Meile.

Miscellaneous:
Yakimono-net. Japanese potters, supplies, tools, books etc. http://www.e-yakimono.net/index.html

Palissy Ware. Good information on this important potter, some images, links, discussion of later manifestations of this type of rustic ware, books. http://www.palissy.com/NEWhistory.html

Museums (Listed are ones with extensive searchable databases of ceramic objects)

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK--Britain’s oldest museum--fantastic ceramics collection. Luck of draw as to what is on-line, but excellent for British, Islamic ceramics--see “Web-Based Teaching Course on Islamic Ceramics”; also check “Potweb--Ceramics online.” http://ashmolean.org/

British Museum, London, UK--Go to the main site and navigate through the “Research” button, using the search tools. It takes a bit of time to get the hang of the search engine, but the British Museum does have excellent collections in addition to the new Percival David Foundation collection of Chinese ceramics (see below).
http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK. Fantastic collection--much of which is on-line but hard to search (poorly indexed). Best to try “browse” from Collections/On-Line Collections links.
http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/

Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington DC (part of the Smithsonian complex)--Excellent collections of Asian Art in general, outstanding ceramics in particular. Excellent photos--be sure to look at Korean wares. http://www.asia.si.edu/

Gardiner Museum, Toronto--Canada’s premier museum of ceramic arts--European, Asian, Pre-Columbian and contemporary work. http://www.gardinermuseum.on.ca/default_flash.aspx

Logan Museum of Anthropology, Beloit College, Wisconsin. Excellent material on North American First Nations ceramics--well researched, illustrated. http://www.beloit.edu/~museum/logan/index.html

Peabody Museum, Harvard University. Collections on line--excellent collection of ethnographic artifacts including ceramics from North and South America, Iron Age Europe and numerous historical photographs. http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/col/default.cfm

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City--the big one! Reasonably good database of historical ceramics in collection, but not easy to search. Excellent, useful “Time Line” helps orient you historically and geographically. http://www.metmuseum.org/

Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, England. This collection was recently folded into the British Museum as an independent entity. While we lost the charming 18th c. building in which it was housed, we gained in accessibility. Go to the British Museum site and click on "Research." An option to search the collection will come up--click on that and type in "Percival David Foundation." You might want to click "images only" to avoid a lot of text without images. Here is the website: http://www.britishmuseum.org/default.aspx The images are beautiful and the infomration useful.

This next is a personal website from Terrance Frank Lazaroff, Information and Program Officer in Canada for the Sanbao Ceramics Studio. In addition to many fascinating photographs, Terrance has a lot of information about residencies in China, and is a good contact for those wishing to travel to China for a ceramics residency.
http://clayart.ca/.
Electronic Resources (available online using your ECUAD student id)
· Groves Dictionary of Art OnLine--detailed analysis of arts of Asia, Africa, Americas, Pacific and Europe--good links to images.
· Art Full-Text--better for contemporary and “fine arts,” but can find useful articles/abstracts for over 450 periodicals.
· Art Museum Image-Gallery (AMIG)--Over 96,000 digitized images from major museums. Some areas of ceramics well represented--others less so.

Notes for the course

2007-08-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

I will paste in notes I have distributed in the past. If they are useful to you, please download all or part of them. They will give you basic information on names, dates, places, technologies. Lectures might or might not follow them closely--I will try to let you know if material is in the notes so you can follow more in class without having to worry about writing everything down.
Brief Notes: AHIS.335: History of Ceramics Practice/Gogarty
Notes may be downloaded or photocopied
Main Points, Early Ceramics: Mesopotamia, Iran, Egypt
Significant Dates:
Neolithic (New Stone Age, Farming, permanent settlement): 8000 to 2300 BCE; Chalcolithic (copper tools begin to replace stone): 5000-3000 (?);
Bronze Age: 2300-1000;
Iron Age (begins Anatolia/spreads): 1600-1200.
Oldest kiln sites/figurines: 32,000 BP (Before the Present).
First pottery in Middle East: 7000 BCE
First Potter's Wheel: (Painted Attic Pottery, p. 203, note 10) Sumer: 3250+/-250 BCE Syria/Palestine: 3000BCE; Egypt 2750 BCE; Crete 2000 BCE; Americas: after 1550 CE; Mainland Greece: 1800 BCE; South Italy: 750 BCE; Danube: 400 BCE; S. England 50 BCE; Scotland 400 CE. (note: dates are tentative, relative and disputed). Earliest pots for which we have details: Anatolia, late Mesolithic (8-7mil BCE).

Mesopotamia:
Proto-Hassuna/Hassuna Period: late 7th mil. BCE, Zagros region, low-fire coarse ware, organic temper, slab technique, bonfire (kilns date from Hassuna), separate ceramic district, incised/painted line patterns from basketry. Samarra ware (5500-5000 BCE): better kilns, animal and geometric, "whirling pattern," trade.
Halaf/Ubaid: 6000-5000 BCE-Halaf (north): settlements built on top of deserted Hassuna ones. Fine clays for thin-walled, coarse for storage, cooking.
Arpachiya--painted wares, fired polychrome, images of bulls, snakes, humans—black core (see p 151PMCT) indicates careful firing. Analysis of trace elements (p.42) suggests extensive trade, uniformity.
Ubaid (6000-4000) (south): five identified stages, under later cities/Sumer. Asphalt coated baskets, wood wares, but also large-scale ceramic production, self-slipped, banding (tournette), polychrome, off-site production and wide trade networks (Red Sea, Persia).
Fourth Millennium: Uruk, Sumer, fortified cities, monumental architecture, potter's wheel, updraft kilns, wide-spread trade, new shapes.
Third Millennium: ceramics important to economy, grey wares, seasonal production, royal patronage, grave goods, development of stoneware, fast wheel, uniformity, emulate metal wares--"fruit stands," goblets, spouted jars, funerary wares, dairy equipment, basalt-tempered (thermal shock), calcareous clay fabric.
Second Millennium: Urban production, regional wares, powerful patronage, improved wheel, utilitarian and finewares, decoration relates to wall painting.
First Millennium: fine palace wares imitate metal, animal-headed rhytons, regional styles, fast throwing, glazed wares/tiles (Ishtar Gate, Babylon).

Iran (Persia): High plateau, distinct regional cultures. Iron age(12-10 c BCE): new metalwares, architecture, burial and ceramic traditions—real cultural, ethnic mix. Amlash: north/west Iran, by Caspian sea, migrant herders. Marlik Tepe: Iron-age tombs—gold and silver goods, mosaic glass, fritware, cylinder seals, grey and red burnished wares, basins, globular flasks, double flasks, jars with beaked spouts (distinctive)—self-slipped, burnished, carefully fired. Anthropomorphic and zoomorphic (bulls, stags, leopards) pouring vessels. Greywares: burnishing imitates sheet metal—beaked pots, repousse. Tepe (oasis) Sialk/Khurvin region-long stable occupation. Cemetery wares copy metal—rivets, fluting, bold geometric patterns, hatching, diamonds, human and animal figures—related to textiles. Luristan: famous for bronzes. Baba Jan painted ware: relates to hammered sheetware, lost-wax casting. Tribes seasonally nomadic. Wares sandy, buffer brownish, painted with reddish-brown circles, wheels, "kites", ladders, rosettes; spouted and anthropomorphic relate to Amlash wares, decorative tiles. 8-7th c., wheel thrown, mica tempered, loop handles, animal-headed terminals, ribs (from metal—no function in ceramics), red-slipped. Large pithoi coil-built, crumbly trays (made and used today by women)--

Achamenids conquer Medes-- new influences, but metals still important.

Partho-Sasanians: Parthians rivals to Rome—stretches Bactria to Babylon, capital at Ctesiphon. Regional, fragmented traditions. In Mesopotamia, use of wheel, plain wares, hand-thrown and wheel-finished plus mold-made—great variety. Innovative decoration—press-molded sprigs, elaborate pictorial motifs (Hellenized), abstract patterns (dog's tooth rocker patterns, diamond shaped, stamped designs) eggshell wares turned after thrown. Glazed wares—rare (5%) but blue, green, yellow and brown, sodium-alkaline glazes—tradition back to Bronze Age. Incorporated potash from burned plants, added metal oxides. Often rim dipped in contrasting colour. Cookware glazed for "easy-clean surface." Real sophistication in tableware forms, "slipper coffins."
Sasanian: AD 224, conquer Parthians, consolidate power--bureaucratic, efficient government and military--lay basis for later Islamic rule. Superb metal, stucco, glass and ceramics produced in large industrial sites adjacent to canals. Square updraft kilns 12 feet across. Widespread trade in region, as far as Africa. Metalwares influence new shapes--dippers, trefoil spout pitchers, animal/portrait head rhytons, elaborate lid seatings on casseroles. Forms that imitate other media called skeumorphs.

Egypt: Earliest wares (7000 BCE) found Middle Nile (Sudan)--Sahara at time more hospitable. Some contact east and west 4200-3800 BCE, not just along Nile. Calciform Beaker—found in Sudan, distributed widely—bulbous base, wide flaring rim. Pottery contributed to sedentism--find it in nomadic, hunter/gatherer cultures--local production, Readily available clay--river course itself changes through time. No evidence of making/firing sites. Likely fired in open clamps (bonfires) short time, 800-900 C., likely made by women, sand or organic temper, rounded bottom (stand in soft sand), grave goods, burial containers. Pots slipped and polished-rocker stamp designs—dog's tooth, zig-zag fields.
Pre-dynastic period: (5000-3100 BCE)--uniformity, some regional variation in Delta, but eventually, assimilated by South (Upper). Pottery in delta plain, uniform; in south, fine decorated wares (could reflect excavations to date--graves survive better in south). Most pottery found as large component of graves. Paddle and anvil, slab, coil technique—use of roulette to facilitate hand techniques. Rilling marks on hand-made differ from fast wheel (spiral) Bonfires and pit kilns. Badarian wares: most significant—thin-walled, silty clay, combed or grooved exterior, burnished, finely finished.
Black and red wares: black rims with red body: buried rims in sand, re-oxidized, or piled organic material in bowl, buried lower portion: Fine pots repaired carefully. Unusual shapes/decoration—polished red slip body with creamy white slip designs--"White Cross line"--geometric, animal. After 3600, painted ware common-purple iron slip on dull beige body. Contain Marl—sea shells-large jars, coil technique, lively drawings, some with circular patterns imitate stone jars. Gerzean Pottery (3200 BCE)-lively drawings; Nagada 3200 BCE: wavy handled jars plain, but carefully finished.

Dynastic period: utilitarian wares, competent, but many a bit dull, except for XVIII dynasty. Fast wheel introduced 2400 BCE—Middle Kingdom (foreign contact): spiral rilling, string-cut base-often finished to remove marks; sometimes be seen with x-ray. Turned by stick in hole; kick wheel introduced 5th c BCE. Hand techniques not abandoned especially for traditional grave goods. Red-slipped wares: jars, spouted ewers, bowls (from 2600 BCE), Meydum bowls (2500 BCE). Whole class of wares for tomb use organic temper, mold-formed. Kilns much improved: updraft, circular or oval, chimneys. Pots stacked in separate chamber, pierced clay grate. Fabric not diagnostic—Egyptians interested in final product, whatever the fabric.

Two basic clay bodies: Secondary Nilotic silt and primary calcareous marl clays. Latter is finer, whiter, take paint better, more common in south. In north (delta) imitate marl clays by putting white slip on reddish silty clays. Faience: fritted glaze molded in to shapes (thousands of molds found), fired, finished like stone—for jewellery, small vessels, amulets, inlays, often found in graves—rich blue colour, used for tiles, related to glaze techniques-based on alkali silicates with mineral oxides, quartz, little or no clay.
Main Points: Aegean, Greek and Roman Pots
Minoan: Pottery on Crete long predates civilization (3000-1400 BCE, destroyed by earthquakes, invasions etc.). Neolithic: develops from simple utilitarian wares; people live and worship in caves, leave offerings. Bronze Age: sophisticated wares spurred on by Palace patronage, trade, influences from around Aegean.
Pyrgos wares: selective burnishing, chalices, reduction fired, tectonic syntax to decoration (emphasizes structure of pot). Vasiliki ware (2500-2300): unusual decoration in blotches (direct contact with flame, uneven glaze), imitates expensive stone, metalwares (rivets etc.), globular shapes, prominent spouts, bird-like--sophisticated firing techniques, kilns.
Potter's wheel common by Middle Minoan (2100-1650); fast wheel after 2000 BCE. Palaces required huge storage containers, standardized sizes and shapes, fine wares—interested in display; supports all the arts—murals, metal wares, ceramics. Kamares ware (1900-1700) red and white on glossy black ground, barbotine (slip-trailed), nature-based (floral style, marine style), plastic additions, egg-shell thin—complex syntax. Burial in larnakes (chests) and pithoi (large urns). Late Minoan--sophisticated shapes, beaked jugs, complex concave/convex profiles, molded decoration, references to murals, seascapes.

Mycenean: Helladic culture Achaeans (1500) and later Dorians (1200) invaders in Greek peninsula. Absorb and dominate Minoans, ceramics, but preferred metal. Long-stemmed goblet ("epirote" 1300), broad bowls, craters—decoration more restrained than Minoan, often in registers, bands, geometric patterns, line drawings— soldiers, chariots in registers. Decline after 1200 until 1000 BCE. Greeks: Real respect for ceramics—utilitarian forms, display, grave monuments, athletic prizes. Most wares undecorated, but decorated wares survive from tombs.
Corinth and Athens big centres--excellent, crisp forms, highly-differentiated shapes--appropriate for task, remain consistent throughout classical period (amphora, hydria, crater, kylix), narrative (Athens) focus on human figure, mesh daily life/values with art. Finely prepared clay, potter's wheel, workshop and industrial production (100 vase painters active in Athens at any given time), potter's quarters (ceramicus), marketing, mainly male production--competition, development, change, fashion.
Attic clay secondary, iron impurities, easily mined, worked, very plastic. Some complex shapes thrown all-in-one, later turned to crisp-up shape. Large pots thrown in sections, assembled. Unfired pots washed with red ochre--fired brighter red. Slips iron-rich, finely levigated, wood-ash (potash/alkali) added. High in illite--in reduction, vitrified, remained black/slightly glossy after re-introduction of oxygen—bichrome product of single firing.
Geometric (1000-700 BCE)~stick figures (prothesis-corpse on bier, mourners, chariots), geometric figures arranged in bands—used as grave markers, pot burials.
Orientalizing: (700 BCE) influence from Anatolia, Middle East-organic designs, florals, spirals, composite animals, "horror vacuii."
Black Figure: (700-550; height, 550-530 BCE): figures painted in black slip, details incised, emphasis on 2-D design, graphic, simplified patterns. Individual artists identified after 700 BCE--Exekias, Amasis Painter. Continues to be used for Panathenaic vases, required on industrial scale—1400 to 2000 amphora filled with olive oil! Red Figure: develops around 530-520 BCE, competes with wall painting, more realistic rendering of figures, emotion, spatial effects. By 300 BCE, in decline; power shifts to Rome.
White Ground Lekythos/oi: primarily used for funeral urns, white slip very fragile, paintings often in fugitive pigments, touching memorial themes, sometimes small double vase inside (conserved oil!).

Italian Peninsula: Villanovans: 8th c. BCE—predate Etruscans, excellent metal workers—cremated dead, cinerary urns, also large heavy storage jars. Etruscans enter peninsula c. 700 from Near East— true arch, metal, ceramics. Grey pottery (reduction) called Bucchero ware—burnished, iron-rich black slip, shapes often from metal wares, influenced by imported Greek pots (shapes, designs).
Rome: 500 BCE, Republic; by 275, rule peninsula, absorb Greece, move into Africa and Europe. Introduce technology and styles into new areas—absorb local traditions. Ceramic production often follows armies.
Red Gloss Wares: begin with Augustan/Imperial age, influenced by Hellenistic designs (figures in relief, scrolls, garlands, floral designs—black-slipped Megarian ware), often produced by Greek workers (have signature seals, industry records). Red gloss slip easier to fire than black—called terra sigillata—from sigillum (seal)--stamped designs. As with Greeks, made elaborate embossed and incised molds from plaster and fired clay—threw clay inside molds, feet, rims etc. added separately.
Arezzo (Arretium) 30 BC-30-50 AD (Augustan period): Large-scale industry, moves with army to Gaul. Centres: South Gaul--La Graufesenque; Central Gaul--Lezoux (late 2nd, early 3rd c AD); Germany--Rheinzabern. Barbotine coloured slips on dark ground popular; eventually North Africa (African Red Slipware “ARS”)--large scale industry--found Cornwall to Russia, Persia to Sudan. Empire exported technology, industry, skills etc; after fall of Empire, these remained to be developed by indigenous cultures (some debate whether residual or reintroduced.) Further from Rome, the more potters experimented with shapes--i.e., unusual flagon shapes in Rheinzabern, use of lead glazes, barbotine wares.

Pottery Lamps: mass-produced, copied successful designs, specialization, industrialization Popular consumer item, shipped with more expensive/bulky wares—particularly with ARS. Cheap, simple light form used until Victorian age. Burned olive oil—similar lamps in bronze. Cheap transport often permitted Roman wares to supplant local production (as British wares did in North America.) Pax Romana stimulates demand for consumer goods, markets, transportation routes-as areas conquered, skilled artisans often emigrated to areas of Roman production—led to real mixing of influences, technologies, skills.
Main Points: Southwest U.S. Painted Pottery/South American Pottery
Region of present-day Arizona, New Mexico, northern Mexico (Chihuahua): Anasazi ("the old ones" in Navajo; modern-day Pueblo—live north of Mogollon rim); Hohokum (live south of Phoenix in Sonoran desert, Salt and Gila river valleys, modern-day Pima and Papago); Mogollon (main group Mimbres, live Mogollon rim in Arizona to south-west New Mexico, modern-day Zuni).

Each group distinctive culture, language, pottery.

Hohokum: agriculturalists—extensive system of canals for irrigation; main site on Gila River Snaketown, inhabited by 500 CE; originally came from Mexico--share many aspects of Mexican culture--ball courts, pyramidal temples, pottery figurines, language. Main wares red-on-buff, figural motifs include dancers, flautists, animals. Wares contain mica, shaped with paddle and anvil, smooth surfaces.
Colonial Period: 600-900, mounds with temples, painted vessels, chert arrowheads, shell mosaics, stone palettes. Sedentary Period: 900-1200, elaborate designs on wares imitate textiles, gila shoulder--gentle curving side meets rounded base in sharp angle; men are superb weavers. Circa 1300-1400, Salado people from Anasazi join Hohokum, help with irrigation, keep own traditions of pottery. Many very large pueblos built--i.e. Casa Grande; disperse c. 1400.

Mogollon: in area by 200 CE. Circular pit houses; agriculturists and hunter/gatherers. 300 AD. Expand up against Anasazi, Hohokum. Disaster strikes c. 500 CE; recover.
After 1000 CE, villages amalgamate to form large multi-room dwellings-square, up to 275 rooms each, with circular semi-subterranean kivas for ritual space, men's clan meetings (matrilocal). First black-on-white distinctive "Mimbres" pottery appears 750-800 CE—bowls (90%), seed jars, water jars. Figured wares (20% of production) complex designs, birds, insects, humans. Possibly illustrate legends, beautiful figure/ground, geometric bands, often buried with dead with "kill" hole. Appear to have left area after 1100- general disaster (droughts? population pressure from Apache, Navajo?) hits area.
Anasazi: Basket makers, dry land farmers. Earliest pottery c. 400-700CE. Modified Basketmaker stage--line baskets with clay, mold pots over baskers. Make true pottery--coiled and scraped greyware.

Developmental Pueblo: 700-1050 CE. Multi-room settlements near Four Corners, matrilineal, men are weavers. Produce white-slipped wares with black decoration, corrugated wares, circular underground ceremonial chambers. Ancestor figures--kachinas-- very devoted to spiritual rituals re: rainfall, birth, death, fertility etc. Great Pueblo Period: 1300-1700-- many storied cliff homes, large populations, each village own distinct ware.

Regressive Pueblo Period: 1300-1700-population/area occupied contracts, but continue to make beautiful pottery-open bowls, seed jars, pitchers, bird effigy bowls; black-on-white mineral paint-often fugitive—geometric patterns—stepped triangles, zigzags, serrated bands, frets, spirals and various combinations—very dramatic and carefully designed all-over patterning, also have polychrome black, white and red in Regressive period--black and white disappears. Duck or Shoe pot: one end sits in fire, lead or lead/copper glazes used for decorative patterns. Cremated dead, placed ashes in one jar, covered with other. When Spanish enter area and try to enslave, revolt 1680s, succumb 1690s. Navajos in area by then (from Canada)--adopt pastoralism, stop fighting Anasazi, culture survives, flourishes.

South America: Andean region--bounded by deserts to west, jungles to east, many high mountain valley spur distinct regional cultures. Earliest utilitarian pottery 1200 CE. By 800 CE, culture based on large temples, worship cat god (puma?), highly specialized pottery, firing techniques. Chavin or Cupisnique (800-400BCE)—likely developed elsewhere, moved in and dominated region. Maize culture, decorated ritual pottery small part of total production.

Stirrup spout or handle distinct feature throughout region and time. Pots take many forms, mold-made—animals, fruits, vegetables, sea shells, humans. Often greywares, smudged (not true reduction), coarse temper. Textiles in region highly developed—also work in gold, copper, silver. First whistling pots appear. Viru culture (300 BCE-500CE) near present-day Trujillo--pyramidal temples, war-like, excellent metal workers, hand and mold-made pottery similar to Chavin--daily life (buildings), animals, often decorated with patterns, lines, dots.

Paracas Cavernas (400 BCE-CE) from peninsula of Paracas (southern coast), region famous for textiles--polychrome bright colours yellow, green, red, black--applied after firing, often flakes off--faces with fangs, deformed trophy heads.

Mochica (CEl-1200)--most important, near Chicama river (north coast), related to other groups living in south by Nazca valley, Paracas. Outstanding plastic wares—eventually, most are mold-made, many nearly identical with some variety in finish—delicate stirrup spout, some with flat bridges, often in shape of human or animal head, dippers and corn poppers.

Burnished unmolded wares have delicate, complex line drawings. Realism on some give insight into culture and cosmology: priests, figures in combat, demons, elaborate headdresses on warriors, diseases and mutilations, prisoners, corpses, skeletons; also some sculptural wares: fruits, animals, lots of sex, whistling jars often in form of birds.
Nazca culture evolves same time on south coast. Pottery thin, well-made, globular jars with two spouts and thin bridge, polychrome--up to 8 colours of slip, highly-stylized birds, demons, fish, pumas, condors. Nazca and Moche seemingly conquered by Huari or Tiahuanaco culture--their wares found over large region ("Horizon wares"). Build monumental architecture, colossal stone sculptures, very war-like—typical motifs involve running figures with bird masks, pumas, condors, brightly painted--spherical vessels, tapering spouts connected by flat bridge, beakers, jars with high necks with face or head on top--huge llama vessels--some 4’ high.

Three states emerge on coast-north, centre and south. Most important Chimu--1200-1450 successors to Mochica, city of Chan-chan capital. Pottery single colour--black, grey or red, highly polished, rarely painted. Stirrup spout usually more square with small animal at junction. Double and whistling vessels common. Conquered in 15th c. by Inca--control Andes from Ecuador to Chile—highly centralized. Aryballos shape characteristic—water jar with lugs, carried by roped-made from huge to miniature, plates with bird-head handles. Wares well-made, polished, often red, sometimes polychrome. Decoration is geometric plus images of plants, insects, llamas. Spanish conquer 1533. Continued whistling vessels; covered ancient forms with European glazes.

Questions to think about with contemporary tribal production:
1) How do contemporary tribal pottery practices differ from historical ones?
2) How can information from contemporary potters contribute to our understanding of historical pottery? How valid are contemporary interpretations of ancient traditions?
3) How do both contemporary and historical tribal potters challenge our concept(s) of ceramics and artistic/artisanal production? In what ways are you challenged?

Brief Notes: China and Japan
Chinese culture radically different from West. Trade contact with Rome and Near East. Consolidate, build wall under short-lived Ch'in or Qin (221-206 BCE). Philosophical/ spiritual influences Confucius, Lao Tzu (Taoism) and Buddha (Ch'an Buddhism).
Eight Taoist Emblems—sword, gourd, flower basket etc.or traditional symbols of Emperor (Dragon) or Empress (phoenix).

First stoneware Chou Dynasty (or Zhou 1027-256 BC). (Not in Europe until 14th c.) Early vessels imitate bronze and jade originals. Lead glazing known from imports of lead frit (called liu-li) from Roman Empire. Yueh district (south-east) develops dragon kiln during Han. Lead glazing lost during break-up of Roman Empire.

T'ang Dynasty (618-906)—peaceful, prosperous, many foreign influences, technologies, religions. Female ruler—Empress Wu Zetian (AD 625-706)--women very fashionable, liberated, educated. Reintroduce lead glazing with tomb figures, globular jars often white-slipped and decorated in three colours (sancai)--very runny glaze, spontaneous, emphatic painting. Perfect high-fire stoneware, possibly make first porcelain at Jingedezhen.

Song (Sung) Dynasty: Northern (960-1127); Southern (1127-1279) Sophisticated aesthetic wares, cross-draft kilns; contours of forms take precedence. Glazes imitate jade. Ding or Ting wares produced at Ting-chou (Hopei province, near Beij ing)—fine white or ivory porcelain—one of Song great wares—press molded or carved with elegant floral-based designs. Chun or Jun wares—lavender opalescent glaze, spashes of brignter purple, exposed rim often covered with metal band. Celadon glazes range of colours—greenish, olive, amber—reduction fired. Most prized celadon called Ju (or Ru) ware made 1107-1127 for exclusive use of court. Glaze smooth, opalescent, greenish blue. Stoneware made in Hopei province--Tzu-chou--light grey body, vigorous freehand painting of flowers, foliage, bands etc. in black or brown iron pigment. Sometimes designs scratched through glaze in forms of peony, diaper patterns, red and green overglaze enamels added.

Southern Song: move to southern capital to avoid Ch'in, attempt to replicate northern wares. Porcelain production characterized by very high degree of industrialization, specialization. Lung-ch'uan is pale green with wide crackle, often molded dragons on handles—sometimes have dots of iron pigments that fire irridescent brown. Opacity formed by minute bubbled in glaze that refract light. Huge factory production—20 to 25,000 at time. Kuan wares for Imperial court-attempt to replicate Ju-yao wares—materials and effects differ widely. Thick grey-green glaze applied in multiple layers to achieve marvelous depth, luminosity. Crackle controlled as visual effect. Southern counterpart of Ding is Ch'ing pai (or qingbai—shadowy blue) from Jingdezhen (Ching-te-Chen—in Kiangsi or Jiangxi province) most prized—translucent, pale blue-green, reminiscent of jade. Porcelain comprises alumina rich clays called kaolins. In north, sedimentary kaolin associated with coal seams. Low in fluxes, high in mullite (alumina) low translucency. In south, primary kaolins produced by alteration of igneous rocks-found in close association with china stone (quartz, fine mica (serite) and feldspar (albite)). Southern porcelain mixture of kaolin and china stone—very translucent; glazes consist of clay with lime flux added, reduction fired (blueish). Early qingbai pure cishi (china stone)~thrown thicker and pared down—fired upright in individual saggars—later fired on rims in stepped saggars, metal bands applied to rims, or interiors wiped clean and stacked one inside other. Shufu body made for ceremonial and official wares—more opaque—introduced kaolin into body. Teawares made with black or brown temmoku glaze—many variations: "hare's fur" "oil spot"--trade item with Japan.

Yuan Dynasty: (1280-1367) Foreigners take over China—stimulate trade (Blue and White).

Ming: (1368-1644): Reject anything Mongol. Eventually come to prefer blue and white, support Imperial courts at Jingdezhen--spare no expense. White wares made at Te-hua (blanc de chine)--Guan-Yin. Stoneware mold-made or incised, painted with "secret decoration." Incredible sophistication, intimacy, variety to wares. Blue and White use cobalt originally imported from Persia, later indigenous source (Chinese cobalt greyer, finer higher in manganese). Exploit Chinese skill with calligraphy--soft washes, figures often in landscape, deliberately avoid horizon, shadows, express inner vitality of nature. Copper red glazes and underglaze developed for court, difficult to control--fires tomato red. During reign of Cheng-Hua (1465-87), begin using domestic cobalt for blue and white, polychrome enamels developed as doucai (tou-ts'ia—contrasting colours) using blue underglaze or "five colour" enamel (wucai) no underglaze.

Beginning of global export trade. Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1912)--technically brilliant but sometimes a bit dry. New colours ("foreign colours") introduced—Famille Verte, Rose, Noire fuse traditional decorations (peonies, chrysanthemum) with new colours. Major reign K'ang Hsi (1662-1722) personally overseas restoration of kilns-wares show incredible delicacy, aesthetic awareness. During reign of Yongzhen (Yung'cheng) (1723-35) use colloidal gold to make pink, lilac-mixed with tin as opacifier. Asked Jesuits for novelties from Europe to copy. Permitted fine details as didn't run with heat. Fa-hua—like cloisonnes—slip trailed and interiors filled in with enamels. Ch'ien Lung (Qianlong) period (1736-1795) also important for trade with westerners. Swatow wares: thickly potted, widely traded around south-east Asia, very freely painted-almost folk art. Yi-shing from Kiangsu province, unglazed stoneware, original shapes--often very tiny--teapots speak to rising vogue for tea. Influence development of red stoneware in Europe.

Japan: traditions extend back 12,000 years.
Jomon period (10,000-400 BCE)--hand coiled, impressed braided cord design.
Yayoi period (400 BCE-300 CE) influences of China and Korea, better firing techniques. Buddhism introduced 7th c.
Chano-yu, or tea ceremony introduced with Zen Buddhism from Song Dynasty China. Sophisticated range of utensils for ceremony: bowls, braziers, incense burner, blossom vase, water carrier etc. Most famous tea master Sen no Rikyu (d. 1592).

Some slip glazes (Oribe, Shino) but prefer "natural" ash glaze introduced from Korea with anagama (tunnel) kiln. Allows Nature to express itself through medium of potter, pot. Admire rustic appearance of ash glazes--wabi--the beauty in unspoiled, rustic or simple things. To simulate rusticity, wares thrown/ beaten off-centre with paddle, fired without saggars. Roughness appeals to sense of touch--beauty of bowl apparent in handling.
Major advances introduced by Korean potters forcibly relocated to Japan by Hideyoshi end of 16th c. Bizen pots—heavily potted unglazed stoneware, show marks of straw burning/ smudging—hidasuki—emulate older ceremonial, funeral wares called Sue. Bizen pots often have potter's mark indicating communal kiln. Shigaraki—more robust shapes, swelling shoulders, ash glaze--inclusions of feldspar push up to surface, deposited on surface—seen as part of "character" of pot, not as flaw.

Shino ware: Kilns active 1570 to early 1600s. White body, luminous white glaze (inclusion of feldspar to basic ash glaze formula)—associated with tea master Shino Soshin (1440-1522), Shino possibly influenced by Korean wares called ido. Several kinds: undecorated, decorated with nature-inspired floral, plant designs in iron wash—charming, unaffected; marbleized (looks like agate ware), grey and red shino-affected by iron slip, method of firing, thickness of glaze over wash~if thin, red or grey shows through.
Oribe—named again for tea master, pupil of Rikyu named Furuta Oribe. Oribe preferred imperfect bowls with character. New revolutionary multi-chambered climbing kiln (nobori-gama) introduced into Mino region-Shino kilns (O-gama-large kiln) fall by wayside. New kiln permits consistent firing, high temperatures-fired in saggars. Walls made from granite-coated with clay. Patterns influenced by textile designs—glaze pours in like dye in kimono pattern—samurai collectors also big textile connoisseurs.
Brief Notes: Everyday Ware--Europe
Great Britain: Medieval period in Britain dates from Norman conquest (1066) to
Tudor period (1500-1600). Pottery utilitarian, working-class—aristocracy ate off gold, silver and pewter, later imported Chinese porcelain. Early forms sturdy, robust—tall jugs with "pie crust" feet (to sit on tables), spotty lead glazes (applied as powder—very poisonous!)--best examples from thirteenth century. Also made pipkins, cooking and storing vessels, frying pans, pilgrim flasks, aquamaniles. By Tudor period, stove tiles, candle brackets, applied sprig molds influenced by German salt-glaze. Cistercian wares stained dark brown (manganese), some with decorative white clay pads or slip designs. Forms: tyg--squat mug, often 2 or more handles; canette—tall drinking tankard, tiles—produced for abbey floors, mold-made, often heraldic designs, lead glazed—reduction and oxidation fired to vary colour, make simple attractive patterns.

Staffordshire (Burslem): most important centre for slipwares (particularly in period around Civil War 1646-50), later industrial production—good supply of clay, coal, transportation. Earliest slipwares first half 17th c. Made in Wrotham (outside Kent), Essex (outside London—Metropolitan wares) and elsewhere. Reaches peak 1670-1730—hollow wares (cups, bowls), flatwares (decorative chargers), miscellaneous wares (boxes, cradles for fertility/wedding presents), posset pots, chimney decorations—most famous made by Toft family (Thomas, Ralph and others)—contrasting slip designs with naive figures, political and religious slogans, "jewelling" (dots of slip). Other slipwares trailed, combed, sgraffito designs with long inscriptions, poems (harvest jugs). In general, potters poor, work is seasonal, family-based. Wares are wheel-thrown, modelled, stamped, inscribed—kilns primitive but developing—beehive or bottle shape common.

Early Modern period (16th c.): expanding economies, movement of social and ethnic groups, intermixing of cultures, technologies, styles lead to expansion in ceramic production as even artisan class has more disposable income. Imports from France (Rouen wares-red and white slip designs), China, Holland (tin-glaze), Germany (salt-glaze) in 17th c. encourage diversification to keep up with trends in fashion. Wares produced for local and urban consumer—construct sense of national and regional identity (deliberately archaic wares with patriotic sentiments, heraldry) particularly in wake of immigration, industrialization. Trade flourishes with Ireland, Continent, Atlantic colonies. Robert Plot--History of Staffordshire 1686--production details, styles, economics. Good source of info on potteries. Press molding introduced late 17th c.-mass-production of highly-finished goods.

Germany: Salt-Glaze-Rhineland early centre of Roman occupation, pottery traditions. Large scale production by 7th c.; kiln improvements in 9th made for tougher wares. Stoneware (steinzeug) produced between 1000-1200 CE—first in Europe (China: 500 BCE). Area favoured with wood supply, stoneware clays, river transport, population base, bronze-working traditions (knowledge of high-temp, work, design). Developments relate to brewing industry—introduce hops c. 1500—big upsurge in beer consumption requires hygienic, sturdy wares. Canette--in Germany—short fat pint; Schnelle: ("fast")--tall, tapering mug; Bellarmines (face modelled on neck—satirize Cardinal opposed to drinking).
Salt glaze--at stoneware temperatures (1100-1200C), salt added to kiln decomposes to form sodium oxide and hydrogen chloride—released as (noxious) gas—sodium fluxes with silica and aluminum in pot surface, forms tough, thin, shiny glaze--colour based on reduction/oxidization and iron content of clay. Salt glaze likely produced by 1400s, but first dated ware 1539. Control by trade unions, foreigners only for menial tasks, limit supply.

Potteries disrupted by Thirty years war (1618-48), relocate. Main centres: Seigburg—throw marks, pie crust foot, elaborate modelled friezes based on engravings, developing print culture, white-burning clays. Raeren brown salt-glaze imitated bronze, often friezes modelled, pious inscriptions around waists.

Jan Emens Mennicken active 1566-1594--best-known-classical scenes, nudes, festival and religious scenes. Wares widely exported.

Koln: early centre, dark chestnut pots—dispute with potters; they move to Freschen.
Kannenbacherland--land of potters--in Westerwald where potters fled to avoid war—produced Seigburg-style wares—grey or blue-grey, intricate engravings, pious sayings—eventually more geared towards colour (fashions change).
Kreussen (Bavaria): most elaborate, costly salt-glaze—inspired by/compete with maiolica, overglaze enamels—colourful, popular 1620-1750.

Defining characteristics of Salt Glaze: use of molds; originals cut in fine sandstone, impressions taken in pipe clay--double negative (to protect original mold)--crisp, detailed. Clay mined from shafts, salt imported from Low Countries (used to salt Newfoundland cod). Wares wheel-thrown, profiles crisped up with templates, bone tools. Colour added—"scratch blue" cobalt frit (smalt) rubbed into incised lines. Salt firings environmentally bad: chlorine gases unhealthy; salt-glaze wore silverware down, eventually replaced by maiolica, creamwares in 18th c.
Tin Glaze (Lustreware, Maiolica, Delftware, Galleryware etc)
Islamic Lustre: Forms based on everyday utilitarian wares. Beauty is in the decoration--long-standing traditions of well-executed designs. All Islamic wares earthenware (including faience/fritware). Tin added to lead glaze to opacify white surface in emulation of imported T’ang Dynasty stonewares, Yuan and later porcelains. First use of cobalt, but design blurs in lead glaze. Lustre requires 2-3 firings: biscuit, tin-glaze, then low-fire (muffle kiln) lustre. Lustre is mixture of metal oxide plus ochre. Under reduction, thin layer of pure metal deposited on surface. Ochre burnished to remove it. Islamic custom forbade use of gold or silver plates at table--lustreware next best thing. Difficult to control; only certain centres capable of producing it. Technology possibly derives from Egyptian glass making.

Samarra: outside Baghdad, Abbasid capital--floral, geometric patterns, exported around Islamic world including Spain. Production moves from Baghdad to Cairo (Fatimid court) to Spain, to Persia (Kashan wares)--widely traded. Kashan 25 miles south of Tehran, major centre, high technical and aesthetic standards. Lustre applied to artificial body (included glass frit) from 10th to 14th c. White body didn’t require masking slip or tin glaze. Can trace genealogies of potters for 400 years. Survived Mongol invasion because Mongolians liked fine crafts. Other Iranian/Persian centres at Rayy (often on blue background), Gurgan (huge cache of wares hidden from Mongols in 1221—town decimated—rediscovered in 1942.)

Seljuk Turks improved faience body--manual written 1301 discusses addition of quartz pebbles, potash frit and borax to imitate qingbai porcelains. Polychrome wares include minai (overglaze, designs based on manuscripts), haft-rang (over and underglaze colurs). Lustre tiles very popular for mosques, tombs.

Hispano-Moresque: Cordoba centre of Western world during Ummayad period (CE 756-1031). Around 1200, potters began to use tin-glaze on biscuit-fired pots. Lustres applied on third fire. Real upsurge in 13th c. as potters flee Mongol advance and come to Spain. Moslems reduced to southern Spain--cross-fertilization with Christian potters. Wares made at Malaga (Andalusia) and Valencia under Islamic influence. Later, Mudejar style (1450-1700) under Christian rule--fusion of Islamic and Gothic traditions. Often cobalt and lustre patterns--leaves, vines arranged in registers used on albarellos (drug jars)--Portinari Altar by Hugo van der Goes (1478). Crisp profiles, elaborate presentation, communal dining wares--exported in large quantities to Italy in Majorcan ships--possible origin of term Maiolica. Talavera de la Reina in central Spain popularized white glaze as “appetizing” Royal patronage sent group to Mexico to start tradition.
Italy: Wares from Islamic countries imported from early date--began to use tin-glaze themselves around 1200. Extensive trade between Tuscany and Barcelona. Valencia introduces mudejar style. Early maiolica very decorative—often oak leaf shape in raised, runny cobalt glaze on tin-glaze surface, heraldic animals—found on bulbous 2-handled drug jars. Major pottery centres develop at Castle Durante, Deruta, Cafaggiola, Faenza. Painters apply mineral paints to tin-glaze using popular prints, paintings as motifs--style called istoriato (historiated--narrative subjects)--mythological, religious, patriotic, popular images in orange, yellow, blue, manganese, purple/brown. Lustres first made at Deruta--possibly Islamic potters fleeing Christian advance in Spain introduce technology—only made at a few centres. Cipriano Piccolpasso wrote Three Books of the Potter’s Art—major source of textual and visual references to pottery techniques of the day. Major work produced by largest ateliers—required real skill, division of labour to decorate and fire properly (lots of waster)--lead poisoning a real occupational hazard. Istoriato goes out of favour with Baroque—often are monochrome blue or yellow with grotesques--called Faience in France (after Faenza). Religious wars/Reformation saw potters locating north, east spread tin-glaze to Netherlands, Central Europe (Anabaptists/Haban wares), England.

Bernard Palissy (1510-1590): Amateur scientist, theologian (Huguenot), potter, artist--invented ways of casting from life, developed innovative glazes based on tin and lead. Faced religious persecution most of his life but also produced wares for aristocracy--grottos (for Anne of Montmorency, Catherine de Medici), “rustic wares” (often snakes, crayfish, turtles, lizards, seashells, in marshy environment on large oval basins, platters--also pitchers). Naturalistic grottos actually contain complex allegories of his faith.

France, Germany, Netherlands: Duc de Berry (owned Très Riches Heures) brought potters from Spain to produce tin-glaze in 1332. Muslim potters fleeing Catholic inquisition come also to southern France--early French wares resemble Italian closely. Traditional maiolica (faience) called “in-glaze” as colours painted on unfired glaze and fuse with it. Covered with coperta (Italian) or kwaart (Dutch)--transparent lead glaze enhances brilliance, seals surface. Range of wares produced in emulation/competition with Chinese porcelain--tureens, stove tiles, decorative plates. Tin-glaze chips easily. Industry at Kreussen (salt-glaze) use stoneware shapes for maiolica and overglaze enamels--produce highly decorative, ornate style. Lots of cross-fertilization as potters move around, fashions demand specialized wares, decorative and display objects--industry collapses in face of cheap creamwares end of 18th c.

Netherlands: tiles, pottery first made at Antwerp by Italian émigré potters 16th c. --closely related to Italian traditions. Founding of VOC (Dutch East India Company) introduced Chinese porcelain--Dutch compete with Delftware--get boost from collapse of Ming. Potters admitted to Guild of St. Luke on basis of painting skill--often copy engravings, portraits, landscape, figural works, genre--use quality clays, industrial methods to produce quality product. Tiles popular in kitchens on walls (Spanish, Italians had used on floors)--hygienic, easy to clean.

Flower holders specially designed to accommodate tulips--pyramid shape, interlocking parts with water holders, spout-shaped necks for blooms--pyramids symbolized the “glory of the Prince” (in Emblem tradition--Caesare Ripa)--also called to mind Roman/Egyptian obelisks, Chinese pagodas. Most exuberant examples produced by van Eenhorn family with Adrien Kocks--popular for funerals, weddings, all sorts of celebrations, display. First mentioned in household inventories of wealthy between 1654-1668. Popularized with English court with accession to throne of William and Mary (Glorious Revolution, 1688--Mary huge fan of blue and white porcelain, Delftware.)

England: John Stow’s Survey of London 1603 reports religious refugees from Antwerp making Delftware in London--also made floor tiles, “apothecaries” (drug jars, albarellos, mortar and pestles etc.) Tin-glaze produced in Aldgate (East Anglia) and Southwark (London) by Flemish potters early 17th to late 18th c. --hard to tell Dutch and other foreign examples. Lambeth, Bristol other important centres--exported to Indies, Americas. Many potteries small family businesses; produced figures, decorated plates, puzzle jugs, candle holders etc.--tendency to chip limited use--surviving objects usually for display. Eventually replaced by Staffordshire creamwares late in 18th c.

Industrial Production in Europe
By the early 18th c., porcelain from China and Japan was reaching Europe in large quantities, consumed by aristocratic elite. Europeans strove to discover the secret of porcelain. Court patronage in Germany, Austria and France led to the development of porcelain factories that supplied luxury artifacts, while in Britain, commercial interests pursued industrial and technical advances to produce less expensive functional wares for the middle classes.
· Hard Paste porcelain: original formula, developed in China under T'ang—vitrified mixture of kaolin (low iron, high alumina clay, china stone—quarz, mica and feldspar). Glazes include lime, feldspar—fires at about 1300C.
· Soft Paste porcelain: ("pate tendre") low clay content, high quartz, glass frit, lime or gypsum—fires lower (1240C or lower)—not as strong, slumps, cracks, but beautiful effects with glazes—used in France 18th c (Sevres) and Britain (Bow, Chelsea etc.).
· Bone china: developed by Josiah Spode c. 1800--up to 50% bone ash, equal parts china clay, feldspar--ideal for casting, economical. By 1825, used extensively in Britain.
· Wedgwood's cream ware/pearlware: Improved existing earthenware body after 1763--refined ball clay, calcined flint (pure silica withstands higher temperature), china stone/ china clay. Glazes lead-soda. cobalt added to glaze after 1779 to produce pearlware.

German Porcelain: First "true" or hard paste porcelain produced in Europe 1709 under Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland by goldsmith and alchemist Johann Fried rich Böttger. Initial experiments produce high-fire red stoneware, could be carved, polished. Often based on designs by Johann Jakob Irminger for metalwares. Böttger discovers use of kaolin to make true porcelain paste ("arcanum"—see great book, The Arcanum by Janet Gleeson). Meissen factory employs 500 people by end of century. Unpainted blanks smuggled out or sold to be decorated by independent artists--Hausmaler tradition ("house painters"). Most important Meissen designer Johann Joachim Kandler--creates numerous table figures based on Italian comedy (commedia dell'arte—stock characters wealthy merchant Pantaloon, beautiful Columbine, jester Harlequin) and pastoral shepherd groups (after French painters Watteau, Boucher), heraldic animals decorate Japanese palace of Augustus (large, difficult to fire, often cracked—based on actual animal studies), Swan service for Count von Bruhl. Johann Gregor Horroldt--major painter, develops overglaze colours (1669-1775) Porcelain also produced in Nymphenburg (Swiss modeler, Franz Anton Bustelli), Berlin, Vienna.

French Porcelain: Develops under court patronage—Chantilly (Prince de Condé) moves to Vincennes (1738)—at bequest of Mme. Pompadour (favorite of Louis XV) moved to Sevres outside Paris 1756. Soft Paste (no source of kaolin in France until 1768; soft paste still favoured until 19th c.). Sevres granted exclusive privilege to make wares "in the style of Saxony" (Meissen) for 20 years—no need to pursue commercial success. Completely tied to system of power, intrigue of court. Employs hundreds of workers, some of greatest French artists, 7 specialist workshops—extremely fashionable decorative objects, special effects--reserves ("camaieu") painted with fantasy scenes-Chinoiserie, rococo influence--potpourris, garnitures, plaques, opera glasses, ice buckets, table wares. Coloured grounds: rose pompadour, bleu celeste, bleu lapis. Inkstand: 1758, soft paste, green ground, decorated with cherubs, gilding-likely made for daughter of Louis XV, Mme Adelaide—crown once contained bell; terrestrial globe-ink; celestial globe contained sand-sprinkled through holes to dry ink on page-little cameo of Louis XV on side. Wallace Collection (London-collected Sevres especially with aristocrats fleeing Revolution). 19th c. under Alexander Broignart, factory abandons soft paste for hard. More "high-tech," clean, industrial, imitate any material: virtuosity and luxury. Soft paste examples from ancien regime highly sought after by wealthy reliving fantasy of past.

Great Britain 1700-1800: Industrial Revolution brings huge changes to industry. Eventually, small potteries can not compete, but this encourages development of genuinely alternate "art pottery" or studio potters. Technical improvements introduced into Staffordshire (main pottery area): Stoneware produced by John Dwight and Elers brothers (from Holland) end of 17th c--lathe-turned, precise shapes influenced by Chinese Yixing wares. Calcined flint added to make white body, salt glaze stoneware. Creamware perfected by Wedgwood--low fire earthenware, cheap, light colour takes decoration, industrial parallels development of consumer culture, emphasis on dining, etiquette, fashion. Creamwares after 1760 revolutionize tablewares available to middle classes, replace tin glaze. Ralph Daniel introduces plaster of Paris from Continent for molds in 1740s--used for press molding salt glaze wares (slip casting not economical until introduction of deflocculants in 19th c.). Transfer printing introduced 1753. First used on enamels, but adapted to pottery. Copper plate printed ink on tissue or oil on gelatin bat. Oil transferred to pot, dusted with oxides for colour. Allowed for efficient, mass-produced decoration, popularity of prints (Hogarth and others), political commentary, souvenir jugs etc. Thomas Whieldon (1719-95) "agate wares" (white clay body coloured with iron, manganese, cobalt—clay wedged together to marbleize, imitate stone) and "tortoiseshell wares" (glaze colours dusted on, mix with streaky glaze). Enoch Booth introduces biscuit firing, which allows pots to be produced one place, decorated at another. Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795): brilliant innovator, businessman, encourages canals, opposes slavery, supports French/American revolutions (real paradox!). Capitalizes on vogue for consumer goods, neoclassical decorative wares, improves creamware body--"Queensware"--admired by Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. "Frog Service" 1773 for Catherine the Great of Russia. Designs often based on metalwares, pierced wares, transfer printed. Jasperware:body coloured with cobalt other minerals (later, just dipped)--designs by leading neoclassical artists, copied from archaeological designs published by Sir William Hamilton and others from Pompeii, Herculaneum--used in furniture, tea services, jewellery, decorative vases—extremely elaborate and ornate.

2007-07-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

We will be looking at ceramic objects dating from 10,0000 years ago up until the present day. The following posts will focus on test images for the mid-term exam.
Here are the sorts of questions I will ask about these objects in slide exams:

•Under what sorts of conditions (i.e. household/domestic use, nucleated workshops, small-scale manufactury etc.) were pots like these made? What evidence do we have to support this?
•How were objects like this formed and fired? How was the decoration made or applied?
•On what material or objects was this pot modelled? (i.e. textiles, gems, stone for decoration, metalwares or leather pouches for form)
•What are the primary ingredients in this material (i.e. faience)? How was this worked? To what use(s) was this put, and why was it particularly appropriate for that use?
•Under what conditions were pots like these made? (i.e. Roman sigillata) How did they contribute to the export of the cultural values of the maker? What were sources for the designs?
•What device is contained within pots like these? (i.e. whistling pots) How do we know? What purpose did this device serve, and what beliefs were held regarding that?