Greek Pottery Sgraffito technique

Objectives

Recognize the characteristics of Greek Pottery

Understand the uses of different Greek forms

Recognize the three Greek pottery styles

Place Greek pottery on a timeline

Greek pottery

In ancient Greece, pottery making was a highly skilled art form.

Each exquisite piece was carefully and

individually hand crafted and painted. The style of the vase would determine its

specific use, whether decorative or productive such as food, water, or wine storage.

Greek pottery Styles

Geometric Black-Figure Red-Figure

Geometric Period 900-700BC Decorated with bands

of simple geometric patterns covering most of the vessel

Eventually entire vase was covered and figures were added

Cinerary amphora

Early Geometric period. Dated to 860-840 B.C.

Greek funeral vase 780 BC The designs are arranged in horizontal bands. Paintings done on the natural ceramic color with a brown glaze.

Greek pottery often pictured many aspects of everyday life as well as featured scenes of important figures often glorifying the gods and goddesses.

Warriors fighting

Figures made of triangles and lines

Chariot rider

Funeral

Black Figured Pottery (700 BCE)

Black figured vases are an ancient Greek vase with black figures incised on a reddish orange clay.

The Athenian potters learned how to obtain the reddish orange hue by mixing red ochre with their clay.

Details within the silhouetted figures were incised before firing using a sgraffito technique.

Pankration contest (boxing/wrestling) prize

Black-figure pottery Figures more life-

like and placed in story-telling scenes

520 BCE

Beginning of artists signing their work

Achilles killing the Queen of Amazons, Penthesileia 530 BCE

Red Figured Pottery (530 BCE)

Realism became an objective The silhouetted and painted drawings were

basically two-dimensional Decoration was first outlined in black, leaving the

design in the lighter reddish color of the undecorated vase. Details were added with a brush applying black, which appeared as brown after the refining.

Red-figure Pottery

Hector of Troy

arming for battle"

620 BCE

The youths here are characterized as athletes by their nudity, the gifts of a fillet and wreath, and the strigil (scraper) held by the rightmost figure.

420-400 BCE

Basic Greek vase shapes

hydria

amphora

lekythos krater

kylix

oenochoe

Krater A large, deep bowl with two handles, used for mixing wine and water.

Krater

Greek, Attic Clay, attributed to the Dinos Painter, ca. 430 BC

Danae & the golden

rain of Zeus" 470 B.C.

"The Francois Vase" by Ergotimos and Kleitias is an Attic Black-figure Krater from Chiusi, c.575 bce and 26" height. Museo Archaeologico, Florence

Amphora A two-handled jar used for storing liquids, such as oil and water, and solids, such as grain. A neck-amphora has the neck sharply set off from the body.

Amphora

Artemis, Apollo and Athena

ca. 530 BCE

Hydria A jar with a wide belly, narrow neck, and three handles: two are horizontal, for lifting, and one is vertical, for pouring. It is used to store

and transport water.

Antimenes painter 530-500 B.C. Terra-cotta

"Hydria" with Black-figure

decoration by the "A.D. Painter"

portrays "women at a fountain

house." c.520 bce, 20 7/8"

Museum of Fine Art, Boston

Kylix A drinking cup which has a shallow bowl, no horizontal handles, and a tall foot. The term "kylix" covers a wide variety of shapes, many of which are called simply "cups" or "bowls".

Kylix From the

Greek “to roll” referring to the vases’ being turned on the potter’s wheel

480 BC. Terracotta.

1998.8. Carlos

Collection of Ancient Art

Lekythos A flask, with an elongated body, rounded base, narrow neck, and a flat lip, used to contain and pour oil.

Lekythos

480 BCE

Oenochoe (eh - nuk’oh – ee)

An ancient Greek wine pitcher

Oenochoe used to pour into cups

Sgraffito Technique

What is Sgraffito?

Sgraffito (in Italian "to scratch") is a decorating technique produced by applying layers of colored slips (engobes) to leather hard pottery and then scratching off parts of the layer(s) to create contrasting images, patterns and texture and reveal the clay color underneath.

Tools and Materials

Apply engobe (colored slip)

Be sure to apply 2-3 coats evenly to leather hard clay

Technique

After slip is leather hard, carve off some of the slip

Contrast of color of slip and color of clay is exciting

Examples

Apply a clear glaze

After bisque firing, apply a clear coat of glaze.

Plate with Radial Balance

Requirements: 3-5 designs

Pattern must create a radial balance

Pattern-write the elements used to create the pattern

Rhythm-name the type of rhythm that describes the repetition of the pattern