I thought I would take the time to enrich my knowledge
regarding the evolution of ceramics. Here’s a glimpse into what I found:
Pottery
has its origins in the Upper Paleolithic Period. One
thing to remember is that the Late Stone Age and the Paleolithic periods took
place at the same time, but the “Stone Age” is the term used that is attributed
to the time period in Africa while the “Paleolithic Period” is usually in
reference to that time period in Europe. Here are some of my findings…
This is an early west
African terracotta pot. Terracotta was used during the early stages of pottery
(it’s still used today, as well) because it did not need to be fired in a kiln
– it could simply be baked in the sun. It could be found in big quantities
underground, so it was readily accessible to people as early as 29,000 B.C..
Around the same time,
Cro-Magnons in Europe were developing new tools to create pottery. Then…
Along
came the pottery wheel, which was invented between 6,000 B.C. and 4,000 B.C. in
Mesopotamia. This society’s inventions were crucial to the development of more
intricate pottery, as well as simplifying the process of making pottery in
general. Now that it was easier to create simple pots and bowls, people
considered making the drying process faster, which led to the development of
the first kilns. The first kilns were pretty much bonfires, were the pieces
would be suspended into the fire for a certain amount of time (depending on the
type of material) and left to dry. These two innovations catalyzed the process
of making pottery and allowed for new aspects of the art to be explored, such
as…
Glazing!
The earliest known glazes were created in Egypt, nearly 6,000 years ago. It
is known as Egyptian faience (“paste”), and it was used to paint ceramics. It
was a mixture made of quartz, sodium and calcium, and was known for its
fluorescent colors. Faience pieces were either left in the sun to dry or put in
the kiln.
Fun
fact! The word “faience” comes from the Italian origin “Faenza”, which was a
town in early Italy known for its pottery.
Chinese
pottery has remained pretty traditional to this day. The
terracotta piece called “The Terracotta Warriors” has been preserved from the
Han Dynasty – a time of great artistic evolution. During this time, porcelain
was developed and replaced the more primitive clay handiwork that had been used
for thousands of years. Now, China, and most of Asia, is known for its
intricate pottery and elaborate clay-based displays and sculptures.
In order to fully appreciate the art of pottery, I
think it is important to understand what has led up to pottery as we know it
today. Check back in next week to see my progress!
SOURCES:
http://www.brothers-handmade.com/pottery-glazes.html,
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab98,
http://www.amywallerpottery.com/faience,
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/arts/pottery.htm
I really like how you looked at the history behind pottery. The evolution of pottery was interesting, especially since you said that Chinese Pottery hasn't changed much. Good luck with your project!
ReplyDeleteVery informative blog post. Its astonishing how old and how common this practice is. How often are you using the pottery wheel between blog posts, and what's your final goal? Your project looks very interesting, and I can't wait for you TED talk!
ReplyDelete