Published: June 15, 2018 By

Most ancient Greek pottery, including all of those decorated in the black-figure and red-figure techniques of vase painting,Ìýwas produced on a potter's wheel, specifically a fast heel.ÌýWheel-made pottery, as opposed to hand-made pottery, was found at , also called Hisarlik, in Asia Minor as early as 2,500 B.C.E. The ancient Greeks may have encountered the people of Troy during the Trojan War, which is recounted in an epic poem by the poet Homer and, in fact, it is in that we find the first reference to the potter's wheel in Greek literature (1).ÌýÌý

shows a potter working at a wheel. In ancient Greece, the potter's wheel was two to three feet in diameter and was usually made of wood, terracotta, or stone. A notch in the center of the wheel's underside allowed a stationary point to be inserted and the wheel would be rotated around this point by hand. The wheel's momentum was provided by hand, foot, or some other source of power.Ìý

The potter's wheel is an example of an early mechanical invention: it can be traced back to the ancient SumeriansÌýas early as 3,250 B.C.E. (2). Early wheels were probably slow wheels; later fast wheels allowed potters to work more quickly and to create more uniform vessels. Before the invention of the potter's wheel, pottery was made by hand, primarilyÌýusingÌý.

This essay was written to accompany aÌýcollection of Greek artifacts at the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Art Museum.ÌýÌý

Footnotes

  1. J.V. Noble,ÌýThe Techniques of Painted Attic PotteryÌý(London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1988): 21; J.V. Noble, "An Overview of the Technology of Greek and Related Pottery" in ed. H. A. G. Brijdger,ÌýAncient Greek and Related Pottery: Proceedings of the International Vase Symposium in Amsterdam, 12 -15 April 1984Ìý(Amsterdam: Allard Pierson Museum, 1984); Schreiber,ÌýAthenian Vase Construction: 12-13.Ìý
  2. Toby Schreiber,ÌýAthenian Vase Construction: A Potter's AnalysisÌý(Malibu: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 1999): 12-13.Ìý