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History of Ceramics

Kelsey McCarthy

EDCP 403

28 000 BCE

Venus of Dolní Věstonice

  • Found in Czech Republic
  • The oldest known ceramic object made of fired clay
  • It gets its unique black colour from the combination of ground bone and clay used to make it
  • The pysical form of the Venus is typical of this time period

https://www.worldhistory.org/image/6867/black-venus-of-dolni-vestonice/

28 000 BCE

Balloon Venus Dolni Vestonice

Jeff Koons

Jeff Koons

  • Contemporary sculpture artist
  • Widely known for iconic scultures
  • Called regressive and criticized by some for the way he depicts sexuality in his art
  • His work is rarely created by him, but he provides the ideas
  • He has hired a Nobel physicist and hundreds of metal workers to complete his ideas for him
  • His contemporary sculptures put modern twist ancient works

https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2019/04/08/jeff-koons-artistically-unoriginal-and-sexually-regressive/

https://ceramics.org/about/what-are-engineered-ceramics-and-glass/brief-history-of-ceramics-and-glass

https://smarthistory.org/jomon-pottery/

9000-10,000 BCE

First Functional Pots - Japanese Jomon Pots

  • First functional pots created for holding things like water and grains due to communities becoming settled
  • These early ceramic objects were dried in the sun, or fired in low temperature (under 1000 degrees celius) kilns that were dug into the ground
  • Ceramic objects like tiles and bricks were also made during this period to help build their settled communties. This was revolutionary in changing the way that society was structured and how people lived their lves
  • Rope/cord was used to make patterns on the pots to make them look like they were baskets, although they were now clay

9000-10,000 BCE

8000-5000 BCE

Glaze is Discovered

  • Glaze was first discovered by accident!
  • One of the first places that ceramic glazes were discovered was in ancient Egypt
  • The process of discovering glazes happened when a kiln was over heated, resulting in the pots taking on a different colour than usual
  • Alkaline glazing was the method used in ancient Egypt. The two methods of alkaline glazing include using an ash and sand mixture, or a soda and sand mixture. This later lead to the discovery of glass
  • The invention of glaze lead to pots now being waterproof. This changed society in ways where people could now store things in pots for long periods of time without the pot soaking up what was in it

https://ourpastimes.com/the-history-of-glazing-12311173.html

8000-5000 BCE

http://davidfryceramics.com/

https://www.veniceclayartists.com/traditional-glazing-david-fry-explores-ancient-glazes-of-china-japan-korea/

David Fry

  • Fry has spent nearly 40 years experimenting with ancient methods of glazing
  • He has developed 3 colours of glaze through extensive research and experimentation
  • His glazes do not contain any toxins or harmful materials (for humans or the environment)
  • Fry is most infatuated with ancient glazing techniques from China, Japan, and Korea.
  • Using ancient methods of glazing allows Fry to achieve beautiful, classic colours in his work.

https://www.colorado.edu/classics/2018/06/15/potters-wheel#:~:text=The%20potter's%20wheel%20is%20an,to%20create%20more%20uniform%20vessels.

https://potterycrafters.com/traditional-pottery-wheel-history/

https://craftshero.com/pottery-wheel-history/

3500 BCE

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Potter's_wheel

https://ceramics.org/about/what-are-engineered-ceramics-and-glass/brief-history-of-ceramics-and-glass

First Pottery Wheel

  • First evident in the Sumerian (modern day southern Iraq) Mesopotamian civilization
  • The pottery wheel allowed for radial symmetry
  • First wheels were most likely slow, and later progressed with speed
  • Pottery would have originally been put on a mat of sort to be able to spin it around to make progress easier for the builder. The wheel is said to be adapted from this idea.
  • A potter's apprentice would spin the wheel (slowly) in the first years of wheel use
  • The wheel allowed people to create pottery much faster than before, which had large impacts on the way society could function

3500 BCE

https://www.britannica.com/art/Greek-pottery

https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/cavestocathedrals/chapter/pottery/

900 BCE

https://www.namuseum.gr/en/collection/geometriki-periodos-3/

https://study.com/academy/lesson/greek-art-of-the-geometric-archaic-periods.html

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grge/hd_grge.htm

Greek Geometric Era Pottery

  • Geometric era evolved from social, economic, and artistic changes in Greece where populations of people migrated across the Eastern Meditteranean
  • This was the first time that Greek art showed human figures on their pottery, but they were quite abstract as they too were made of the geometric shapes
  • These pots boast fine, intricate patterns of meander, checkers, traingle, herringbone, and swastika. These were usually arrange in stripes around the pot.
  • The armed warrior, the chariot, and the horse are the most common symbols in this period
  • The clay used was terracotta

900 BCE

https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/introduction-parthenon-and-its-sculptures

200 BCE

Greek High Relief Sculpture

  • Metopes (rectangular slabs carved in high relief) were placed on the outside of the Parthenon
  • Phidias was the most famous sculptor in the antiquity period and designed these
  • The high relief depicts ancient mythical battles
  • High relief consists of starting with a slab of material (in this case marble) and carving out the unwanted pieces, leaving the piece looking as if there is a flat background and they are popping out

200 BCE

https://www.upscalelivingmag.com/british-sculpture-paul-day-captures-moments-in-time/

https://pauldaysculpture.com/artworks/

https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/daily/article/The-Story-of-a-Successful-Ceramic-Sculptor-Paul-Day-Talks-About-Life-In-and-Out-of-the-Studio

Paul Day

  • Battle of Britain Monument/high relief sculpture
  • He states, "relief sculpture allows me to add that component of time and movement into a static image"
  • Usually depicts urban scenes, but crafted the Battle of Britain collection
  • This type of sculpture seems to be the best to capture a story or narrative with emotion
  • Works with terracotta, resin, and bronze
  • Perspective is a huge component of Day's work as each piece is exaggerated to make the viewer see the magnitutude of a singular perspective. This perspective allows him to capture big emotions

Paul Day

13th Century CE

Korean Celadon Pottery

  • Mainly associated with Goryeo Dynasty
  • Finest Celadon pottery was created in Buan and Gangjin regions in Korea (the kilns were controlled by the government)
  • Invasions by the Mongols prevented Celadon pottery production in 13th centure CE
  • When Celadon production resumed many years later, the specific green colour could not be achieved. It resulted in the pottery taking on a dark green hue
  • In present day, modern workshops are using traditional methods in traditional locations to create traditional pieces

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cela/hd_cela.htm

https://www.worldhistory.org/article/945/korean-celadon-pottery/

13th Century

Method

  • Technical expertise were learned from the Song Dynasty in China and adapted to created the unique greenware of the 13th centruy CE
  • Name 'Celadon' comes from the blue-green/soft grey-green colour, however, ceramic experts prefer to use the term 'greenware'
  • Colour is produced by a specific firing process where an oxygen-reducing kiln with low levels of iron oxide
  • The level of iron oxide determines the hue of the green
  • Fired at a temperature of 1150 degrees celcius, which allows for a smooth and glossy finish.
  • Small hairline cracks appear in the glaze through this process which is a desired result

Design & Decoration

  • Almost always tall and elegant, shaped with flowing curves
  • Alternatively, intricately carved by engraving designs into clay before firing
  • Designs and subjects featured inspired by Buddhist spirituality (the main form of religion at that time)
  • Many pieces incoporated embellished colour such as real gold inlay and copper oxide (a first in the history of ceramics)

Decoration & Design

Images

Melon-shaped ewer with bamboo decoration

Images

Celadon Ewer, Goryeo Dynasty

Korean Celadon Incense Burner

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/206046

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HbHNamsVgQ

https://www.gardinermuseum.on.ca/collection_type/commedia-dellarte-figures/

18th Century

Commedia dell'Arte

  • After Europe had finally discovered the craft behind Chinese hard-paste porcelain, artists took to creating intricate and detailed figurines of popular culture theatre
  • Germany produced some of the finest of these figurines
  • Italian improvisational theatre was very popular during the Renaissance, which prompted the creation of these figurines
  • These figures were most likely used to decorate dinner/dessert tables as a symbol of pop culture to remind guests of what they had just seen prior to the dinner portion of the evening
  • Their exaggerated poses, gestures, and facial expressions suggest mischief and fun

18th Century

https://www.gardinermuseum.on.ca/collection_type/european-porcelain-of-the-eighteenth-and-early-nineteenth-centuries/

https://vsemart.com/lace-porcelain-art/

19th Century

Commonly seen are females in frilly dresses; elegant and feminine

Lace Draping Porcelain Figurines

  • The lace drape technique includes dipping lace in a porcelain slip and heating it, resulting in lace-like (but hard) porcelain
  • Historians think that the process was devleoped in China and originally completed with silk
  • The lace draping is heated at temperatures around 1300 degrees celcius, which burns out the lace but keeps the porcelain skeleton

19th Centruy

https://ridiculouslyinteresting.com/2011/09/09/corrupting-the-porcelain-figurine-tradition-shary-boyle/

Shary Boyle

  • Boyle uses traditional techniques from the 19th century to create her porcelain figurines. This includes the lace draping technique.
  • Her esthetic remains so close to that of the Baroque style dresses of the classic figurines, but she alters the vintage moulds to capture her slightly grotesque vision for the versions

Shary Boyle

Present Day

Featured Artist: Zizipho Poswa

  • Modern day ceramics have a great range of form and function
  • Artists play on traditional methods and styles, but also push the phsyical and purposeful boundaries of their work
  • Ceramics are being used to understand and challenge ideas in society
  • There are many mediums used including wood, clay, marble, bronze, terracotta, commodified objects, etc
  • Zizipho Poswa creates sculptures that are inspired by her background in textile design. She works with patterns, colours, and textures
  • Her sculptures reflect the struggles, success, and traditional ways of carrying water as she grew up in Eastern Cape town, South Africa.
  • These sculptures are paying tribute to the metaphorical and phsyical load that Xhosa women carry

https://archive.pinupmagazine.org/articles/interview-with-south-african-ceramicist-zizipho-poswa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVZ4jiTtKjU

https://southernguild.co.za/artist/zizipho-poswa/

Present Day

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