On the Importance of Pottery - Three

 On the Importance of Pottery - Three 

Lets look at some very EARLY Hellenic ceramics 

Neolithic from Dimini in Northern Greece

Helladic from Aegina 

Helladic again 

Seeing a theme ?

From the earliest times there's an interest in balanced forms and geometrical decoration.

And Handles really good handles! Functional ware with beauty! 

Classical forms BEFORE the Classical era

More Poseidon Images

Next week is Haloea so our theme is Poseidon on Ceramics

 vessels in contrasting styles also showing what the painters did with a limited palette of slips

Judgement of Hermes

JUDGEMENT OF PARIS CERAMIC PAINTING
Some Observations

#Hermes #Paris #Greekceramics

Hermes is a bearded adult not the beardless youth of many Hellenistic and Roman works. The painter has used the white slip to emphasize small details that might not stand out on the traditional older black background and has used some kind of yellow ochre as well as a red ochre and black giving him or her a 4 color 5 if you count white palette?

There's a hint of beads or embroidery on Hera's robes and the yellow ochre is used to outline the wings on Hermes' boots and on Hera's crown. Black seems to have been mixed with red to create a dark brown for the edges of robes unless thats fading?

The overall effect is simple elegance with restraint and balance. Some of the rendering seems almost "sketchy" to a modern eye especially if you expect a wider tonal range so bear in mind these images were painted on small objects not massive urns and the Greek painters and potters did not have modern glazes to use.  No ceramics supplies stores or factories !

Corinthian Hound

#yearofthedog #dog #hound #corinthianceramics

In the East Asian Lunar Calendar the Year of the Dog starts soon and this gave me an idea for a theme. I found several Attic ware depictions of dogs but also this lesser known Corinthian ware work showing a rather leonine mastiff or hound. The torso seems a little exaggerated but I think the artist was possibly trying to suggest that the dog was running. Its certainly an elegant and powerful example of what can be done with a limited color range.

Amazons and Athletes and Actors?

#amazons #actors #athletes #theatre #ceramics

Let's take a closer artifact at an artifact I showed you before!

I previously showed you this image as an example of a hybrid of Greek and Scythian clothing on an Amazon but I'ld like you to consider something else. This is a perfume / scented oil flask described as probably belonging to a young man for carrying to the gymnasium and applying after his workout.

BUT WHY AN AMAZON? 

Is it just possible some upper class women were experimenting with wearing non Athenian clothes say for horse or chariot riding. Could some Sarmatian or Scythian women actually have been wearing such outfits on the streets of Athens? Was this flask and other similar items actually sold to Athenian women who wondered about Amazons? Could there have been a women's gym in Athens? Perhaps attached to a woman only bath? Open to non Athenians if they were women temple guardians?

A final possibility is that this is the actual equivalent of "pinup" art. This could actually be a young male actor dressed as an Amazon from a play. While traditional dramas used masked actors perhaps sometimes the performers were unmasked for other types of theatre events?

The Evolution of the Greek Sphinx

The Evolution of the #Greek #Sphinx

A Final Chronological Look at Sphinxes in #GreekArt

Starting with an Egyptian Sphinx

Then the sort of #Sphinx  Phonecian traders might have been selling as luxury items

From the #Archaic period 

And Classical 

Finally a Early hellenistic mosaic floor from Etretria

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Minoan Octopus Vase

I'm just shamelessly bumping one of my favorites cos this #minoanvase is just simply a masterpiece!

Excellent balanced form. 

Superb painted decoration.

Beautiful composition of design that matches form and flows over it.

A #ceramics masterpiece !

Minoan and Mycenaean Depictions of an Octopus

just reposting  a old favorite  anyone see the documentary on octopus intelligence the other night ? some people think a giant octopus might have been the partial inspiration for the Hydra. The first image is Minoan

This one was from a mainland potter  a more severe formal flatter depiction but still with rhythm and symmetry

what a difference though !

Sesklo- The first Greek Settlement

SESKLO

The first GREEK settlement?

Well probably not since other Neolithic settlements like Nea Nikomedia have also since been found in Thessaly in Northern Greece but its one of the oldest dating occupied for over a thousand years.

Why do I consider this Neolithic settlement to be Greek ?

Note the use of slip and the symmetrical  arrangement of the cord used to  create a geometric pattern rather than spirals and the overall symmetry.

Now here's a reconstruction of what archaeologists think Sesklo looked like.

MMM terraced hillside and is it a central plaza / agora next to the main building?

Why do I say terrace rather than wall? This is Greece well their ancestors ... the houses are close but separate on a hill to leave slopes and flatter land free for farming and grazing and while many archaeologists believe walls were for defence ... remember there were still four legged predators back then and a need maybe to shelter garden plants from storms and rain and wandering stock .

Perhaps Sesklo should be called a proto polis?