Material Matters
The vessels in the CU Art Museum's collection serve as examples of how archaeologists can tell where and when pots were made.听Clay听from different sources comes in different colors and degrees of purity and听it fires to differing degrees of hardness. These differences in clay types affect听the shapes that a potter can create. What is more,听different towns developed different ways of decorating pots at different times.
Two vessels in the collection are made of Corinthian clay: an early 6th century B.C.E. aryballos decorated with a frieze of real and mythological animals听and an听early 6th century B.C.E. alabastron听that bears decoration in the form of a single sphinx. The two are identified as Corinthian partly by their pale clay, which is characteristic of vessels produced by Corinthian potters and painters.听Corinthian clay is ideal for small, rounded pots.听The rosettes and animals decorating these pots are typical motifs on Two Athenian vessels, including a 5th century B.C.E. black-figure lekythos听with two figures reclining beneath a grape arbor and a late 5th or early 4th century B.C.E. red-figure lekythos showing a woman holding a shallow dish over a wool basket, have a reddish-orange clay that fires harder than Corinthian clay, making it more ideal for sharp and crisp edges. The clays of Cyprus, on the other hand, have a grayish tinge, as demonstrated by an Early Iron Age juglet.听
Sometimes it is possible to identify instances of an artisan creating听a ceramic vessel听in imitation of听a vessel made in a more expensive or exotic material, including precious metals like gold, silver, and bronze, as well as stone. An early 6th century B.C.E. alabastron, for example, is intended to mimic听in clay the general shape and function of stone alabastra, such as a听6th century B.C.E. stone alabastron from Anatolia听in the CU Art Museum's collection. Greek vases, then, can help us understand how artistic styles translated across media, as well as across geographical distance.
Foreign influences influenced artisitc development in Greece. Greek trade with the cultures of the Near East, for example, introduced new shapes and decorative motifs into the Greek worldview and entire periods of Greek art, such as the so-called Orientalizing period, show a fluorescence of foreign influences in Greek art.
Looking at the Pots
The vessels included in this exhibit represent听2,000 years of Greek history. They serve as excellent examples of the ways听archaeologists can examine pots听to learn about ancient society. By looking at these vessels, it is possible to see how such vessels evolved over time as well as witness the continuing importance of听the ceramic industry in Greek society.
Shapes represented in this collection include a variety of cups, different kinds of jars and jugs, a large transport amphora, and condiment or jewelry containers, as well as a number of figurines.听