History of Pottery

History of Pottery

      ❖ The oldest Pottery dates back to the 10,000 years during the Neolithic Revolution
      ❖ Pots were built by stacking rings of clay together, which were smoothed out and fired in big holes in the ground underneath a bonfire
      ❖ Pots and Vases were utilitarian in nature and were mainly created for drinking and pouring or also storing olive oil or wine
      ❖ Greek mythology was the first to experiment with adding colours to the clay with other natural ingredients like ochre and potash
      ❖ The beginning of Bronze age around 3000 B.C potters were using the slow wheel
      ❖ Slow Wheel is a moveable platform that allows the potters to turn the pot as they work, instead of having to move round their pot
      ❖ By the next century came around most potters in Europe and Asia were using the Fast Wheel
      ❖ A platform was used similar to the Slow Wheel technique, except the platform spun on an axel much like a toy top
      ❖ Potters start with alump of clay sitting on the wheel and give the wheel a good spin to enable them to draw the pot out of the clay through the spinning motion
      ❖ The platforms made itpossible to work quickly and reproduce the same design
      ❖ The next big breakthrough in pottery was in the 600 A.D during Han Dynasty in China when potters began to make porcelain pots
      ❖ The delicate and artful pieces known as fine china were created from whit kaolin
      ❖ Clay was combined with ground granite which was fired in extremely high temperatures
      ❖ Potters in West Asia invented lead glazes to mimic the porcelain look
      ❖ The glazes were important because they add a decorative element to pottery making, which made porous earthenware waterproof
      ❖ European potters created colourful glazes to use in their pottery
      ❖ Throughout centuries pottery has continued to evolve as both a craft and a art

Time Line – The History Of Pottery

Early Neolithic Wares...