Until recent times, most art was not created as “art for art’s sake.” Rather, decorative designs were used to adorn spiritual, ceremonial and every day, functional and didactic items. Local craftsmen, artisans and production centers created aesthetically pleasing personalized objects for daily use for the joy of it and to please gods and deities often using symbols believed to imbue them with auspicious powers. Common utilitarian objects included dishes, utensils and vessels for eating, cooking, storing or pouring foods, liquids or precious items (perfumes, oils, wines etc.) as well as tools, instruments, weapons and agricultural and weaving implements. These objects reflected the status, financial resources and interests and proclivities of the user or the person commissioning the objects. The VA collection highlights the unique and decorative appeal of these items. Ancient pottery, metalworks, carvings and other utilitarian pieces ranged from plain to highly decorative. Chinese craftsmen produced home items to promote fu to enter the house and Burmese hand looms and oxcarts were topped with carvings to protect the user in the hope that works of high quality would be created. Whatever their intended use or nature of their designs, utilitarian art and artifacts reflect unique skills and provide a sense of comfort and personalization of the environment or culture in which they were made.
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Oenochoe, the Greek word for wine vessel or jug, is a category of ancient Greek pottery with different variants. Copied and modified by ancient cultures, this earthenware pouring vessel was made in a pottery center in the Roman North Africa territory called Africa Proconsulares and exported throughout the empire. Made using a potter’s wheel and…
Daunian style earthenware pottery was produced in the ancient northern Italian region Apulia, in what was then known as Magna Graecia. This cup from the 6th or 5th centuries B.C.E. was covered with beige slip and then painted with red, brown and black earth colors in a variety of patterns including diamonds, triangles, crosses, rectangles,…
This is an excellent example of an ancient earthenware wheel made carinated flagon. Carinated is describes pieces whose lower and upper bodies slope in opposite directions and meet to form a visible edge around the entire vessel. This one has a very low profile curving up to a tall neck, a strap handle and a…
This is an excellent example of an ancient earthenware carinated pottery flagon made in production centers in throughout the Roman Empire. This was made in, the Roman-North-Africa territory called Africa-Proconsularis. These pouring vessels locally made by provincial artisans were used specifically to hold and pour water, wine and other liquids and placed in kitchens, on…
This small earthenware jarlet was made using a potter’s wheel, fired in a kiln and is one of many pouring vessels used throughout the Roman Empire. It was made in a ceramics center in Africa-Proconsularis, the name for Roman North Africa territories. Made from clay, it is covered with a beige or white slip. These…
Earthenware bowls and other pottery items were produced locally in Roman North Africa after the Roman Empire expanded there and established ceramic production centers in the province called Africa-Proconsularis. Ceramics were shipped throughout the Empire on the same routes of their other exports from North Africa. Made using a wheel, this bowl is covered with…
Wing or ear cups (yushang), a term that describes its side flange-like additions to its ovoid body, appeared as early as the Zhou dynasty (1046-256 BCE) made in lacquer and later from a variety of materials. Lacquerware cups were used as dining vessels used for rituals and ceremonies contain fragrances, food or wine; and the…
This large terracotta kiln made piece is a Roman Empire serving platter in a technique called ARS (African Red Slip). Created in the Roman North Africa territory named Africa Proconsularis, it is a remarkable piece decorated with circular rings with perfect ridges as it was made using a pottery wheel. Its rim is articulated, a…
This ancient pottery lekanis is from Apulia in Magna Graecia, the Roman name for the South Italy coastal area colonized by the Greeks in the 6th century B.C.E. Greek settlers arrived with their Hellenic culture intact and had much influence on Italian civilization. A lekanis was a highly decorated low shallow bowl with close-fitting top…
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 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…
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