DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1755#0032
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IMPOETANCE OF THE POTTER'S AET. 7
nations, from the nature of the materials in use among them. This system is
divided into three periods:—Period I. Implements and arms of stone, of
wood, and of bone, and clothing of skins; 2. Arms of copper and gold, no
silver or iron ; 3. Arms of iron, articles of silver, and inscriptions.
We are at present treating of the first period, in which no other imple-
ments and arms than those of stone, wood, and bone were in use—an age
in which the bow and the arrow had just been added to the javelin; and
when a stone adze was employed for shaping timber. Gourds were the vessels
used in such a state of society; and Acorn-cups and Flowers naturally sug-
gested some of the beautiful forms observable in pottery even of the earliest
times. Moreover, clay being so easily moulded by the hand, it is easy to
imagine that patterns would be traced, by way of ornament, upon these vases,
while still in a soft and yielding state. At first these devices would naturally be
imitations of the geometric lines of the
spider's web, of a ring, or palm-branch, and
the simple series of angles, known as the
zig-zag pattern, VW\. Two vases are here
given, to shew the simple pattern scratched
upon them. The originals are made of
coarse black-brown clay, and are classed ng.i<-vwi*mTt*nmjuvni*.
among the earliest specimens of Italian fictile art,—the form of the one
being copied from a very primitive water vessel, the skin of an animal, and
is called Askos. Such skins are still used in Italy, as well as Greece, for
containing wine. The potters art early acquired great importance, both from
its utility and the scope it afforded to the arts of design by way of enrich-
ment. From the superiority of the native clay, the best manufactures were
established at Athens, Corinth, and iEgina, and the most finished and beau-
tiful forms eventually became peculiar to these places.
With the discovery of a material so plastic as clay, man's imitative power
expanded, and produced various attempts to represent the human form, in
which the distinctive characters of the race, at least, were exhibited. Man's
upright position, the head poised on the columnar neck, with projecting
nose and chin, and eyes looking straight forward,—these at first engaged
the artist's attention; and we must not be surprised that these peculiarities
were exaggerated.
When the use of the hammer and anvil was discovered, it led to the forma-
tion of similar figures in metal, as being much more enduring than clay. In con-
firmation of this opinion, some very early bronzes have been preserved, which
were discovered in a tumulus at Sardis, and which have traced on them the simple
line patterns, such as we find on the earlier specimens of pottery. These lines
■J^S>.
£s|y
<5^
IMPOETANCE OF THE POTTER'S AET. 7
nations, from the nature of the materials in use among them. This system is
divided into three periods:—Period I. Implements and arms of stone, of
wood, and of bone, and clothing of skins; 2. Arms of copper and gold, no
silver or iron ; 3. Arms of iron, articles of silver, and inscriptions.
We are at present treating of the first period, in which no other imple-
ments and arms than those of stone, wood, and bone were in use—an age
in which the bow and the arrow had just been added to the javelin; and
when a stone adze was employed for shaping timber. Gourds were the vessels
used in such a state of society; and Acorn-cups and Flowers naturally sug-
gested some of the beautiful forms observable in pottery even of the earliest
times. Moreover, clay being so easily moulded by the hand, it is easy to
imagine that patterns would be traced, by way of ornament, upon these vases,
while still in a soft and yielding state. At first these devices would naturally be
imitations of the geometric lines of the
spider's web, of a ring, or palm-branch, and
the simple series of angles, known as the
zig-zag pattern, VW\. Two vases are here
given, to shew the simple pattern scratched
upon them. The originals are made of
coarse black-brown clay, and are classed ng.i<-vwi*mTt*nmjuvni*.
among the earliest specimens of Italian fictile art,—the form of the one
being copied from a very primitive water vessel, the skin of an animal, and
is called Askos. Such skins are still used in Italy, as well as Greece, for
containing wine. The potters art early acquired great importance, both from
its utility and the scope it afforded to the arts of design by way of enrich-
ment. From the superiority of the native clay, the best manufactures were
established at Athens, Corinth, and iEgina, and the most finished and beau-
tiful forms eventually became peculiar to these places.
With the discovery of a material so plastic as clay, man's imitative power
expanded, and produced various attempts to represent the human form, in
which the distinctive characters of the race, at least, were exhibited. Man's
upright position, the head poised on the columnar neck, with projecting
nose and chin, and eyes looking straight forward,—these at first engaged
the artist's attention; and we must not be surprised that these peculiarities
were exaggerated.
When the use of the hammer and anvil was discovered, it led to the forma-
tion of similar figures in metal, as being much more enduring than clay. In con-
firmation of this opinion, some very early bronzes have been preserved, which
were discovered in a tumulus at Sardis, and which have traced on them the simple
line patterns, such as we find on the earlier specimens of pottery. These lines
■J^S>.
£s|y