Greek Pottery

From the fragments that remain, we know that ancient Greek artists created some of the most important images in Western art. While most of these works are in ruins or have disappeared, many ancient pots, jars and dishes have survived throughout the years and can tell us all about the Greeks’ beliefs and religion as well as the details of their daily lives.

Ancient Greek artists created pots in certain shapes, each of which had a specific daily purpose. The vessels were made from reddish clay and were then decorated with images- usually of humans and animals. Early Greek vase paintings are known as black-figure paintings in which silhouetted shapes were painted on the jar with a black liquid called slip. Details within these images were indicated by lines that were incised, or scratched, into the slip. The shapes in ancient Greek black-figure pottery tell stories, both real and imagined.

Around 530 B.C., Greek artists began experimenting with a new kind of vase painting in which they painted slip on everything but the figure and then they could easily paint in the details rather than having to scratch them in. This kind of vase painting is called red-figure. Artists painting in the red-figure style continued to visually narrate the adventures of their gods and superheroes but red-figure vase painters also wanted to create images taken directly from life.

In this project, seventh graders created their own Greek vase out of red low-fire clay using the coil method of clay hand-building. Students chose which pot style they wanted to create out of ten possibilities. After creating their coiled vase, students chose the imagery to paint based on their shape and did so by glazing using either a black-figure or red-figure style. As usual, it's so difficult to capture the beauty and scale of the artwork in pictures, especially shiny three dimensional pottery! Some of these are at least 12" tall and they are all beautifully done: