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Greek Pottery

Ancient Greek pottery was commonly used for mixing wine and holding olive oil. Artists often decorated pottery with scenes from daily life and mythology to be given as gifts. Over time, different regional styles developed such as Protogeometric, Geometric, Orientalizing, Black Figure, Red Figure and White-ground techniques. While vessel shapes remained consistent for practical use, decoration allowed artists creative freedom to depict myths, athletes, weddings and more. Today, thousands of ancient Greek vases can be found in museums and private collections worldwide.

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586 views11 pages

Greek Pottery

Ancient Greek pottery was commonly used for mixing wine and holding olive oil. Artists often decorated pottery with scenes from daily life and mythology to be given as gifts. Over time, different regional styles developed such as Protogeometric, Geometric, Orientalizing, Black Figure, Red Figure and White-ground techniques. While vessel shapes remained consistent for practical use, decoration allowed artists creative freedom to depict myths, athletes, weddings and more. Today, thousands of ancient Greek vases can be found in museums and private collections worldwide.

Uploaded by

pallavi.puri
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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GREEK POTTERY

INTRODUCTION
The ancient Greeks
favored pottery, which
they used to mix wine
and hold olive oil.
Often, pottery was
decorated by Greek
artists and given as gifts
or prizes to soldiers and
politicians.
Today, thousands of
Greek vases are spread
across the world in
private art collections
and museums alike.

GREEK POTTERY

Greek pottery often told


stories about Greek daily life
such as funerals, marriages,
wars and athletics.
Athletics and wars were
particularly popular subjects
for pottery.
These vases depict men
wrestling, running, high
jumping or throwing a discus.
Another very popular subject
matter for ancient Greek
pottery was scenes from
mythology.
Erotic vases were also popular
for use at men's drinking
parties.

GREEK POTTERY

Protogeometric Styles The Protogeometric style flourished


from c. 1050 to 900 B.C. Pots were
decorated with black bands, wavy
lines and simple geometric designs,
principally concentric circles and
half-circles drawn with a compass
and multiple brush; careful attention
was given to the relationship
between the decoration and the
shape of the pot.

Protogeometric amphora
GREEK POTTERY

Geometric StyleGeometric pottery was one


of the earliest ceramic
styles in ancient Greece,
dating approximately 900
BC - 700 BC and favored
the rectangular space on
the main body of the vase
between the handles. Bold
linear designs appeared in
this space with vertical line
decoration on either side,
characterized by new
motifs, meanders, triangles
and other geometrical
decoration as distinct from
the predominantly circular
figures of the previous
style.

Geometric Style
GREEK POTTERY

Orientalizing styleOrientalizing Style is also known as


Corinthian style or Archaic Styles.
Corinthian pottery dates from roughly the
8th to 7th centuries BC.. Most of the
ceramics from this style were produced in
Corinth, although some imitation wares
were also made in other towns. Corinthian
art depicted silhouettes and abstract
designs rather than realistic plant and
animal figures.

Proto-Corinthian olpe , c. 640-30 BC


GREEK POTTERY

Black Figure StyleBlack Figure pottery is one


of the most recognizable
Greek pottery designs and
emerged from c. 620 to
480 BC. Black figure
pottery bears iconic
representations of figures
from Greek mythology.
The mainly black figures
are more intricate than
mere silhouettes, with
facial features, clothing
and weaponry depicted in
reds and yellows. Zeus,
Achilles, Athena and other
gods and mythological
figures adorn the pots
from this period.

The Panathenic Amphora


GREEK POTTERY

Red figure StyleThe innovation of the redfigure technique was


an Athenian invention of
the late 6th century. The
ability to render detail by
direct painting rather than
incision offered new
expressive possibilities to
artists such as threequarter profiles, greater
anatomical detail and the
representation of
perspective.

Reveller and courtesan by Euphronios, c. 500 BC


GREEK POTTERY

White-ground
TechniqueThe white-ground technique
was developed at the end of
the 6th century BC. Its
coloration was
achieved through the use of
paints and gilding on a surface
of white clay, although the
vases end up less visually
striking. The technique gained
great importance during the
5th and 4th centuries,
especially in the form of
small lekythoi that became
typical grave offerings.
Apollo and his raven on a white-ground bowl
GREEK POTTERY

SHAPESAlthough Greek pottery provides us


with a wide range of shapes from
cups to plates to massive
amphorae, many of the forms
remained relatively constant over
centuries. This is primarily because
Greek potters were producing
wares for practical use - holding
wine, water, oil, and perfumes and once the optimum practical
shape had evolved, it was copied
and maintained. However, despite
this restriction in form, the Greek
potters and painters could express
their versatility in the decoration of
the vase.

Cypriot Pitcher
GREEK POTTERY

10

THANK YOU

GREEK POTTERY

11

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