Greek Pottery Analysis

Words: 1715
Pages: 7

As time was changing for the Greeks, they started to steer over towards using pottery as a canvas for their pictorial art. Because it was a three-dimensional piece the artists were able to create and design their own vessels to work on; they started for scratched, which allowed them to produce art that was solely their own. Greek pottery during the Archaic period went through four prominent phases that each showcased it’s own characteristics and styles. These phases were the Geometric period, the Orientalizing period, the black-figure technique, and the red-figured technique. Throughout each segment of the Archaic period, it was evident that each had it’s own focal point relating to the artistic practices, and even though these practices were …show more content…
This piece is actually from Italy and dates to approximately 700 BCE to 675 BCE. The vessel was a relatively large cream-colored food storage jar with orange-red figures. The Heron Class Olla has an array of different line sizes stemming from the bottom all the way up to the lip of the jar. There is also a few various geometric designs and patterns present - about 6 horizontal lines alternating with smaller “heart-beat” (zigzagging) lines form a ring around the lower end of the jar, and a rhombus-shape that is filled with a checker-board pattern alternates with a horse-like figure making another ring around the top portion of the jar. The animals on the Heron Class Olla resemble a horse and the other creature looks …show more content…
This type of style was very popular with the Corinthians in Greece. Corinth was a city located on the peninsula of Peloponnese in the southern part of Greece, which acted as a bridge of lands between Sparta and Athens. Despite the actual meaning of “orientalizing”, which is to give oriental character or appearance to, the main framework of this approach was influenced from the Eastern Mediterranean, present-day Middle East, and Egypt. It was executed from 700 BCE to 600 BCE, and used red clay for the pottery. The main focus was detailing the silhouettes of each figure. The drawings typically found on pottery during this period were generally concentrated towards animals and floral designs, than humans. Most of the animals included were representation of the ancient Greek culture; there were lions, griffins, sphinxes, and sirens commonly