Of all the material remains recovered by archaeologists, the most abundant is pottery – the first synthetic material created by humans. Pottery is a general term defined as objects made of clay fashioned into shapes, dried into a leather-hard state and then fired to permanently change the clay’s moleculat structure so that they hardened and survived over time. Early civilizations used clay earthenware and terracotta vessels to store, prepare and serve food; hold perfume and precious oils; ship commodities; burn oil for light; contain or function as votive offerings; and help settle and satisfy the dead in their comfortable afterlife.
Showing 13–23 of 23 results
This terracotta figurine from Alexandria in the Roman Egypt depicting a female holding a young child was probably placed in a home shrine to provide favors and protection. Although it is difficult to identify specific deities, this figure is probably a kourotrophos (meaning woman nurturing a child) –a female mortal or deity figurine with an…
An oenochoe or oinochoe is the Greek word for a wine jug and the name of an important category of Greek pottery created in many forms of which there are many variants copied and modified by cultures throughout the ancient world, especially by ancient pottery centers in the Africa Proconsularis province of Roman North Africa. As common…
This earthenware cup is called a beaker, a term used by archeologists to describe small cups without a handle and held in the hands similar to Japanese ceramic teacups that also warm one’s hands. Items like this were made in Africa Proconsularis, the Roman North Africa pottery center and distributed throughout the Roman Empire). Using…
This is an excellent example of an earthenware carinated flagon made in a Roman-Empire ceramic production center in the Roman-North-Africa territory called Africa-Proconsularis. The word flagon is derived from the Greek word for flask and is a larger, taller variant of a Greek flask used for oils (lagynos). Wheel made for the lower classes, undecorated…
This kiln-fired medium size earthenware platter is a wheel made functional piece called African Red Slip (ARS). A category of ancient pottery used by those of high status for formal occasions to serve food, it was made in Roman-Empire production centers in the Roman-North-Africa province called Africa-Proconsularis. They were shipped everywhere along the same trade…
This ancient wheel-thrown pottery was made in the Greek colonies, Apulia, Magna Graecia in Southeastern Italy and dates from the 4th century B.C.E. Magna Graecia is the Roman name for coastal Southern Italy colonized by Greek city-states and first named by the Roman poet Ovid in his poem Fasti. These settlers brought their Hellenic culture,…
The Song dynasty (960–1279CE) is considered the most culturally brilliant era in later imperial Chinese history. A massive expansion produced government and public buildings and tombs with walls decorated with earthenware unglazed mold made brick tiles. Some were purely decorative and others were wishes for happiness and comfort in live and deceased people’s afterlife called mingqi. With…
Banquet scenes and feasts have been part of Chinese art and culture for millennia. They include celebrations of important rituals and social events, both public and private. These can be religious or social rituals, funerary practices performed by families filling their obligations of filial piety, family fêtes, scenes of scholarly gatherings, casual feasts for couples and…
Unglazed earthenware pottery cocoon jars were used extensively during the Han dynasty as mingqi, items made for placement in tombs to comfort the deceased on their journey to the afterlife. These ancient pottery vessels were ancestral objects, part of ancestor worship, made to revere and honor the deceased, fulfill Chinese duties of filial piety, and have…
Although most famous for Christian burials, people of all religions were interred in the catacombs due to a shortage of land and demand for burial space after a switch from cremations to underground burials in the 2nd century A.D. Roman made closed earthenware terracotta lamps became the dominant oil lamp style in the Roman world…
The Song dynasty (960–1279) is considered the most culturally brilliant era in later imperial Chinese history. A massive expansion during this dynasty produced government, public and religious buildings and tombs with walls decorated with earthenware unglazed mold-made brick tiles. Some were purely decorative and others were wishes for happiness and comfort in the deceased’s afterlife called…
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