Mycenaean and Greek Ceramics Ms. Lim Grade 11 Ceramics

Mycenean Civilization 1550-1050 Minoans on Crete – 2000-1500 Mycenean Civilization 1550-1050 Greek Civilization timeline:  776 BC: Traditional date for the first Olympic Games  594: Solon gives Athens a new constitution; this is the start of the rise of democracy in Greece  490-479: The Persian Wars – Athens and Sparta lead the Greeks in defending their land against invasion from the huge Persian Empire  447: Work begins on the Parthenon in Athens, then at the height of its glory  431-404: The Second Peloponnesian War – Athens is defeated by Sparta, which now becomes the leading power in Greece  399: The Athenian philosopher Socrates is condemned to death for questioning conventional ideas  338: King Philip II of Macedon defeats the Greek city-states and imposes his dominion on them Pnyx. In 508 BC the first ever Greek democracy congress started meeting here weekly.

Mycenaean wares typically display stylized representations of marine and plant life and show a fondness for minimalistic linear designs, a trend which would go on to influence the early pottery of Archaic and Classical Greece from the 9th century BCE.

Mycenaean Ceramics Iron-based slip was used. Flowing shapes Animal, sea and plant life. Lilies, palms and ivy were reserved for larger vessels. Octopuses and nautiluses were particularly popular Designs filled all the decorative surface and followed the contours of the vessel.

Minoan Vase in Marine Style . Minoan Vase in Marine Style

Mycenaean Vase Decorated With An Octopus Mycenean depictions of nature became more and more abstract

Dark bands Often animals had separate areas of their bodies filled with different decorations. An excellent example of this technique can be seen in the bull and bird decorated vase from the British Museum where the bodies are divided into sections, each decorated differently with dots, wavy lines, scales, crosses or chevrons.

Mycenean Ceramics: Pictorial Style The Pictorial style continues and a celebrated example is the Warrior Vase from Mycenae which depicts eleven marching warriors with spears and each carrying a bag, perhaps containing their daily food rations. Interestingly, this would become a common theme in 4th to 5th century BCE Greek Pottery.

Greek Ceramics - Key Features Made on a potters wheel Clay had high iron content, giving it a reddish colour Each part was made separately on the wheel and then combined: foot, body, and neck. And then handles were added. They were joined using slip. Ceramicist and painter were usually separate specialists. Form was more important than decoration

Low fire. Fired three times. 1) Oxidation to get a good red from the clay 2) Reduction to get the black slip come out shiny to come out. They would add water or damp wood to draw out oxygen and close the vents. The whole piece would come out black. 3) Oxidation to bring out red colour again. The areas without slip would turn red again and the areas with slip would stay black.

Forms Forms remained relatively constant through the centuries because they were used for practical purposes. http://www.ancient.eu/article/489/ this shows every style of Greek vessel forms

4 Groups of Greek Pottery Proto-Geometric - appeared around 1000 BCE Geometric - appeared around 900 BCE Black Figure Pottery - around the end of the 7th C BCE Red-Figure Pottery - 530 BCE

Proto-Geometric Style Simple shapes, sparingly used The most popular Proto-Geometric designs were precisely painted circles (painted with multiple brushes fixed to a compass), semi- circles, and horizontal lines in black and with large areas of the vase painted solely in black.

2) Geometric Style Used the space between the handles on the body of the vessel for design. Linear designs appeared In 8th C BCE, Geometric pottery began to include stylized human figures, birds , and animals with nearly all the surface of the vase covered in bold lines and shapes painted in brown and black. Towards the end of the period in the 7th century BCE, the so-called Orientalising style became popular in Corinth. With its eastern trade connections, the city appropriated the stylised plants (e.g. lotus, palm, and the tree of life), animal friezes (e.g. lions), and curved lines of Egyptian and Assyrian pottery to produce its own unique Greek version. The rest of eastern Greece followed suit, often preferring red on a white slip background.

Burnishing When clay is leather hard, the surface is rubbed with a stone or smooth wood to make the surface smooth and shiny.

Black figure vs. Red Figure The clay surface was burnished. The figure was drawn on with charcoal. The figure was painted with slip and then details were incised (carved out) of the slip to allow the details to show the red clay underneath. Red Figure: In 530 BCE painters reversed the use of slip. The vase itself was painted with black slip leaving the silhouette of the figure unpainted. There was NO incising of detail, any detail was painted on with black slip or dilute slip .

3) Black Figure Pottery In black figure pottery, potters create the images by adding a slip (liquid clay mixed with pigment) that turns black upon firing. Incising the slip and adding additional color enhancements allows vase painters to add detail to the picture. The black stylized figures became more and more precisely engraved more detail ie. In muscles and hair Carved with a sharp instrument into the slip for details. Postures are given grace and poise usu shown in the moments before actual movement or resting after exertion. The famous vase by Exekias, with Ajax and Achilles playing a board game during the Trojan War, is an excellent example of the dignity and energy black-figure painting could achieve. Narratives shown a range of scenes and characters from Greek Mythology.

Sgraffitto

Sgraffitto Examples

4) Red-Figure Pottery Use of brush over the graver (incising tool) could attempt to more realistically portray nature Anatomical detail, diverse facial expressions, greater detail in clothing Greater attempts at portraying perspective, the overlapping of figures, and the depiction of everyday life such as education and sporting scenes are all characteristic of this style.

Game: Identify the ceramic piece Mycenean Proto-Geometric Greek Geometric Greek Black Figure Red Figure

A: Geometric

A: Mycenean

A: Red Figure

A: Proto Geometric

A: Mycenean

A: Black Figure

A: Geometric

A: Red Figure

Assignment Options: 1) Copy a Greek vessel form using coils to hand build or throw the vessel parts and combine them. 2) Use red or black slip techniques to decorate a vessel of your own imagination. 3) Use Mycenean or Greek imagery to decorate a vessel of your own imagination. You can combine the imagery with your own imagery. 4) Use a Greek vessel form and use sgraffitto of your own design.