Greek Pottery
References:
American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 113, No. 4 (Oct., 2009), pp. 599-627
Greek vase painting has for many years held an important role in the topic of classical archaeology. The focus of analysis on Greek painted ceramics began in the 18th century. Scholars slightly disagree on some aspects of Greek vase painting. One area that all professionals support is the importance of vases from the Archaic and Classical periods. Most reports made by scholars on Greek vase painting are collected and published every couple of years in the Bulletin Archeologique: Ceramique of the Revue des Etudes Grecques. This essential academic resource was founded by Henri Metzger in 1960. Most publications highlighting Greek ceramics are the excavations reports created by professionals in the field. These reports either discuss specific finds at a certain location or go into extreme detail on entire sites. Excavation reports allow for a short overview of a specific type of pottery found on location. Also, the reports aide in comprehending individual artists and the importance certain ceramics had at a specific site. Sadly, excavation reports do not publish information regarding other materials found around the ceramics. This creates a situation that does not allow scholars to understand the context that ceramics fall under. Nowadays, professionals as a standard have began to report the ceramics within their contexts. This new standard may be seen with the publication of two volumes from the Kerameikos excavations: "Kunze-Gotte's study of archaic and classical graves and Knigge's publication of Bau Z". Some countries, such and the United States and Germany do not fully appreciate the study of Greek ceramics. Many American professionals only focus on the concept of studying pottery, but not excavating the vases. This poses a problem considering that pottery is the "most common artifact" unearthed during excavations. The Archaeology Institute of America's Code of Professional Standards, amongst other organizations, pressure archaeologists to publish their findings within a reasonable time, but many professionals do not abide by these standards. Conferences focused around Greek ceramics are a relatively new idea. The University of Amsterdam's "Ancient Greek and Related Pottery" conference in 1984 was a major step for international attention on the topic of Greek ceramics. A catalogue that was created specifically for ancient vases is the Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. The catalogue was established in 1919 by Edmond Pottier, "who published the first volume of the series in 1923". Today, many of the catalogues focus on Greek painted pottery, especially all black/red figure types. The Germans compared to the other 26 countries who take part in the catalogue have produced the most editions, 84 copies out of the 325 are credited to them. Greek painted ceramics/pottery is a key component in several classical exhibitions. This has caused "major exhibits" in which Greek ceramics have had a crucial role, such as the several exhibitions that were created "in response to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens...".
During the 19th century, scholars started to attempt linking ceramics with the specific artists who created them. At first, professionals used signed vases as an early point of reference. Unfortunately, this created a situation that did not allow unsigned vases to be link to any artist. Sir John Davidson Beazley did groundbreaking work in associating unsigned ceramics with specific artist. He devoted many years to this research and was able to credit several unsigned Athenian ceramics. Sir John was able to link ceramics to specific artists based on the style of drawing. This allowed for a better analysis of how Attic black figure and red figure ceramics developed. This new understanding enabled for the dating of figured pottery and is still used today. The concept provides professionals the ability to trace ceramics back to the workshop of origin. Thus, Beazley's research allows for scholars to be able determine several elements about the past, such as trade routes.
Greek vase painting has for many years held an important role in the topic of classical archaeology. The focus of analysis on Greek painted ceramics began in the 18th century. Scholars slightly disagree on some aspects of Greek vase painting. One area that all professionals support is the importance of vases from the Archaic and Classical periods. Most reports made by scholars on Greek vase painting are collected and published every couple of years in the Bulletin Archeologique: Ceramique of the Revue des Etudes Grecques. This essential academic resource was founded by Henri Metzger in 1960. Most publications highlighting Greek ceramics are the excavations reports created by professionals in the field. These reports either discuss specific finds at a certain location or go into extreme detail on entire sites. Excavation reports allow for a short overview of a specific type of pottery found on location. Also, the reports aide in comprehending individual artists and the importance certain ceramics had at a specific site. Sadly, excavation reports do not publish information regarding other materials found around the ceramics. This creates a situation that does not allow scholars to understand the context that ceramics fall under. Nowadays, professionals as a standard have began to report the ceramics within their contexts. This new standard may be seen with the publication of two volumes from the Kerameikos excavations: "Kunze-Gotte's study of archaic and classical graves and Knigge's publication of Bau Z". Some countries, such and the United States and Germany do not fully appreciate the study of Greek ceramics. Many American professionals only focus on the concept of studying pottery, but not excavating the vases. This poses a problem considering that pottery is the "most common artifact" unearthed during excavations. The Archaeology Institute of America's Code of Professional Standards, amongst other organizations, pressure archaeologists to publish their findings within a reasonable time, but many professionals do not abide by these standards. Conferences focused around Greek ceramics are a relatively new idea. The University of Amsterdam's "Ancient Greek and Related Pottery" conference in 1984 was a major step for international attention on the topic of Greek ceramics. A catalogue that was created specifically for ancient vases is the Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. The catalogue was established in 1919 by Edmond Pottier, "who published the first volume of the series in 1923". Today, many of the catalogues focus on Greek painted pottery, especially all black/red figure types. The Germans compared to the other 26 countries who take part in the catalogue have produced the most editions, 84 copies out of the 325 are credited to them. Greek painted ceramics/pottery is a key component in several classical exhibitions. This has caused "major exhibits" in which Greek ceramics have had a crucial role, such as the several exhibitions that were created "in response to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens...".
During the 19th century, scholars started to attempt linking ceramics with the specific artists who created them. At first, professionals used signed vases as an early point of reference. Unfortunately, this created a situation that did not allow unsigned vases to be link to any artist. Sir John Davidson Beazley did groundbreaking work in associating unsigned ceramics with specific artist. He devoted many years to this research and was able to credit several unsigned Athenian ceramics. Sir John was able to link ceramics to specific artists based on the style of drawing. This allowed for a better analysis of how Attic black figure and red figure ceramics developed. This new understanding enabled for the dating of figured pottery and is still used today. The concept provides professionals the ability to trace ceramics back to the workshop of origin. Thus, Beazley's research allows for scholars to be able determine several elements about the past, such as trade routes.
No comments:
Post a Comment