Discovering the Past Through Ancient Greek Pottery

{Withstanding time, Greek Pottery has been critical in the world’s comprehension of the ancient Greek society. Mostly found in the Etruscan Tombs, Greek Vases and Greek Pottery are canvases that paint a portrait of the world of ancient Greece.  While much of ancient Greek art is forever lost, Greek vases offers a glimpse into both the mythology and every day life of ancient Greece.

With the dawn of the Minoan civilization that arose on the island of Crete, the culture made significant contributions to Greek way of life; especially, in the artisanship of pottery and vases. Minoan potters designed pottery for gathering food and storing liquids. Functional necessity became a vehicle for articistic expression, with the potter looking to nature to  influence the designs that transformed the piece creating art from what was once only a utensil.

As time progressed, Minoan’s created vases in forms that were used for specific purposes. For example, the Amphora vase is a wide-bodied vase with a wide open mouth and two handles. It was used to transport and store liquids such as oil or wine. Adorned with grass and flowers, and life of the sea, the Minoan’s created the standard for future designs.

During the Protogeometrical Period, Greek vases were decorated with uncomplicated designs that consisted mainly of patterns of of circles. The Geometric style followed with new motifs, building upon the latter with meanders, spiraled patterns and triangles. In the middle of the 11th Century, the first images of human figures were seen painted on the Greek vase, and by the end of the artistic era, mythological figures were central to the decorate elements of Greek pottery.

The Orientalizing Period came after trade-links with Syria and the Aegan World. The rise of human depictions slowed during this period, and the artisan used the Greek vase for depicting lions, griffins and sphinx with lotuses as accents.

Through the Corinthian creation, the Greek black-figure technique, artists used iron-rich clay that became reddish-orange after firing. They then sketched the design in outline, and filled it with clay. Greek vases would be fired in a kiln at a temperature of around 800 degress Celsius. After oxidation, the pottery would turn a reddish-orange color. Next, the temperature was raised to 950 degrees Celsius, and the piece would turn black. Finally, the kiln vents were opened to allow the oxygen to flow, and the pottery would return to the reddish-orange color, but the paint layer remained black.

The Corinthian used these vases to depict animal friezes.  It was the Athenian painters who developed a narrative method, depicting mythological scenes of battle, gods and heroes.

Replacing the black-figure method, the red-figure method was introduced in Athens. At its core, the process is the direct opposite of the black-figure method. Depictions were applied to the Greek vases, but to unfired pieces after they were dried. The Athenians carved images on the pottery or vase with a blunt tool. It was erased during the kiln process, but after the contours remained and were filled with a glossy clay slip.

The Greek methods for creating pottery resulted in Greek vases whose designs endure even today and left the world with a path to the past.}