Arch 372 Ceramics

Front 1

One of the oldest ceramics sites?

Back 1

Dolni Vestonice, Moravia, Czech Republic

~26 000 yrs old with 2000 sherds found

venus figurines, animal figurines

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Oldest Chinese ceramics site?

Back 2

19000 to 20000 yrs old

Xian Rendong Cave in Jiangxi Province

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Oldest Japanese ceramics site?

Back 3

~ 16000 yrs old

Jomon Pottery

cord marked design

interesting because these were hunter/gatherer societies and pottery more associated with agriculture

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Stallings pottery

Back 4

South Carolina

4500 years ago

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Clay?

Back 5

the smallest particle size in minerals, only certain minerals are that small.

porous particles, sticks together, has plastic capability

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Silicates?

Back 6

Form glass like materials when heated, naturally occurring

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Kaolinite

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High quality white material (China pottery)

can be fired at a lower temperature

Platy structure (flat hexagonal shape)

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Paste?

Back 8

raw material

colour shows level of kaolinite and quality

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Temper

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added to paste, aids in the firing of paste, so it won't shatter or shrink excessively

The kind of temper is dependent on the culture

-minerals (limestone, sand, quartz)

-organic (shell, seeds)

can trace tempers back to their origin

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Fabric

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Paste + Temper

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Construction techniques

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Pinch pots

Slab building

Coiling

Molding

Wheel throwing

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Pinch pots?

Back 12

hand manipulation

can see inconsistencies in wall thickness

irregular surface (finger prints)

Joins in vessels may have cracks or weak spots

often asymmetrical in plain view

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Slab building?

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Cut sheets of clay

highly consistent wall thickness

geometric shapes

cracks and imperfections at joins

may have woven textile print on surface

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Coiling?

Back 14

inconsistent vessel wall thickness

incomplete joins between coils

occasional air pockets

most common

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Molding?

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stone mold, seen in ancient Rome

consistent replication of a standardized form

smooth outer walls

elaborate imagery

inner walls smooth or may look wheel thrown

faint vertical seam

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Wheel Thrown?

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fine parallel horizontal lines on inside and out

nearly perfectly circular

relatively even wall thickness

little thumb print/indent in base

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paddle and anvil?

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to pound out air pockets

makes walls stronger

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Staging?

Back 18

build vessel, let it dry, add other parts

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Traditional firing?

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1. start fire raise temp over 1100 C (can't use just wood).

2. warm pot with embers w/ opening face up

3. Add dung or peat to make high temp

4. place pot on dung

5. Cover pot with dung

This is a communal activity

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Oxidization?

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oxygen rich firing environments bring out earth tone colours of paste (red, browns). Iron in paste is being oxidized (rusting basically)

Chimney style

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Reduction?

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Oxygen deprived firing environments make vessel grey/black

brings out metallic nature of minerals

smokey and sooty

happens by free carbon taking oxygen from vessel

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Zonation?

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Sometimes vessel is oxidized and reduced in different areas (shows how it was fired)

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Fabric body and temp?

Back 23

Porcelain (1300-1450)

Stoneware (1200-1350)

Earthenware (900-1200)

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Characteristics of earthenware?

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porous, gradually absorbs water, can use paint/slip to make it more resistant

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Characteristics of stoneware?

Back 25

More glassy/vitrified

unglazed will absorb water

heavier

(hardness and water absorption differentiate stoneware and earthenware)

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Characteristics of porcelain?

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lustres, sharper when fractured,

won't absorb water

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texture of bodies

Back 27

course and fine

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Fabric body?

Back 28

China is pure kaolinite clay (fired lower at 1100-1200 C)

Terra-cotta is mud brick, more cohesive than earthenware, porous, fired at less than 1000 C

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Vessel forms?

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Bowls wider than tall

Jars have narrow orifice compared to body

Mug has handle and similar to jar

Jugs have handle and spout

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Amphora

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2 handled jars in Mediterranean

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Castellations?

Back 31

Castle-like finishing on vessel

Type of maker's mark

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Forms: Geometry?

Back 32

Ovoidal

Cylindrical

Conical

Spherical

Ellipsoidal

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Burnishing

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rubbing stone on vessel to make it harder and more smooth,

makes it less porous and affects its ability to hold water

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texturing

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paddling it,

cording,

this increases surface area and allows for cooling and better heat distribution

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Slipped

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pigments added, thin layer of glass-like material

holds water better

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Painted

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add minerals for colours

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glazing?

Back 37

vitrified, need high temp

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Plainware

Back 38

cord impressed

corrugation

incising

punctation

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Punctation

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Texturing, insolating capabilities

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Incising

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cut into clay

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corrugated

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when coiled pottery is not smoothed over

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cord impressed

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vessel wrapped with cord so the cord imprint is stamped on clay

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Potter's tool kit?

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Shell knives

paddle

stones

cords

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Characteristics of slip and paint

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Slip flakes off instead of rubbing off like paint

colours and number of colours are important in studying ceramics

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Glazes

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first ancient glaze ware was crude and not very glassy

Mineral glazes make colour

iron- red/brown

copper- blue/green

Cobalt - brilliant blue

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Main classes of design styles?

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Realistic

naturalistic (slight abstraction from reality)

Representational ( more abstracted, takes liberty with natural world)

iconographic (simplifying image that represents something)

Abstract (distortion)

Geometric (using lines, spaces and creating pattern)

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Naturalistic

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slight abstraction from reality

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representational

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more abstracted, takes liberty with natural world

ex images floating or suspended

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iconographic

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simplifying image that represents some thing to convey meaning

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abstract

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distortion

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geometric

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using lines, space, and creating patterns

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Elements

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building blocks of a motif

7 elements of design

line, shape, colour, form, value (quality of colour like neon/pastel), texture, space

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motif

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combined elements and reccurring structures, constant association with element

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Types of patterns

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asymmetrical

Bilateral symmetry. _/ \_

translation/repetition _/ _/ _/

point rotations _/ /-

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Segmentation

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vertical (different designs on vessel from top to bottom)

radial (different designs on vessel from left to right)