Graham's Potted History

Making Bad Replicas??

2011-12-04T09:58:00.001-08:00

The pots that I find most difficult to replicate are ones that have been made with little aesthetic consideration and only the bare minimum of technical ability. In the field of ancient ceramics these qualities (or possibly lack of qualities) are rare, but there are exceptions. I have been asked to replicate some Souterrain ware, a very rudimentary type of pottery from Early Mediaeval Ireland. I had to make some very similar pieces for the Gefrin exhibition of Brian Hope Taylor's finds from Yeavering / Gefrin in North Northumberland so the type isn't limited to Ireland.

The problem is, I always have to fight the natural inclination to "improve" the pot because that's exactly what I mustn't do. The pots we tend to see in museum cases are, by and large, the best examples of their types. If you've gone to the effort of going to see them you'd probably expect no less. But I have to admit that it was only when I had gained sufficient professional standing, to be allowed into museum store rooms, that I realised that there were bad Prehistoric, Roman, Anglo Saxon Mediaeval, etc., potters. But there they are, represented behind the scenes of virtually every museum I've ever looked at, and sometimes I have to copy them.

Take a deep breath and forget the last 35 years of training and experience, grab the clay and just make the pot..... and here is one of said pots, made from unprocessed glacial clay, more or less as it was dug from the ground. The surface pock marked with small cavities left behind when organic matter burned out during the rather uneven open firing, a firing that brought the temperature of the pot up to about 700C, only really just hot enough to be called pot. The underside is deeply impressed with the grass matt upon which the soft clay was rotated during the crude hand forming process.

The mystery really is, where had the technology gone?? Ireland is responsible for some of the finest prehistoric pottery in the British Isles. This pot was obviously made for practicality not beauty and I respect the original maker for that, but were I able to travel back in time, I might be inclined to try and pass on a few potters' tips.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Replicas as Christmas Gifts

2011-11-20T03:31:00.001-08:00

Over thepast few weeks I’ve been working on a number of different replicas including Neolithic CarinatedBowls & Unstan Bowls, Bronze Age Beakers, Iron-Age Decorated Bowls & Roman Hunt Cups andthese are now on display in Crown Studio Gallery, Bridge Street, Rothbury. So if you need a special gift for the Archaeologist, Historian, Antiquarian or Re-enactor in your life, or even for yourself, I may be able tohelp. Whatever festival you’recelebrating, be it Christmas, The Pagan Solstice, The Saturnalia, Dies NatalisSolis Invicti (The Birth of the Invincible Sun, Mithras), or any other mid Winter Festival, Ishould have something that will suit. If you can't get to Rothbury just ask and I can post items to you.

I take a great delight in the idea that I'm part of a potting tradition that stretches back thousands of years and try to make and fire the pots in ways that the original makers would recognise. I take even greater delight in the idea that the pots will be owned and used by someone who truly appreciates their heritage, and will use them as they were intended.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Roman Hunt Cups

2011-11-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

I've been turning and finishing the Hunt Cups today and now they're in my workshop drying.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

2011-11-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

I'm working on stock for my trip to TORM (The Original Re-enactors' Market) next week, so today I've been making Roman barbotine decorated, colour coated, hunt cups. This involves building up the relief decoration using very thick slip. For absolute authenticity I'm using a cows horn and goose quill slip trailer!

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

The Eagles Have Landed Installation at Tullie House Carlisle

2011-07-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

OK I'm going to try to catch up on some of the projects that I've been involved in over the past year, they might not be in chronological order but here goes.

First I have finally installed the sculptural piece that I made along with students from Burnside Business & Enterprise College at Wallsend. (Click here to see my earlier post) It's situated in the Border Galleries, not in the new Roman Frontier Gallery and, if I do say so myself, I think it looks pretty good.

The piece features a Haltern70 Amphora pouring out coins across a map of the Roman World and represents the idea of Rome as a global commercial enterprise.

The map itself is composed of terracotta fragments each one bearing the thumbprint of one of the students that made it. Since the most common artifact on a Roman site is usually the pottery sherd it seemed appropriate that the empire should be represented by this medium.

The coins bear the heads of emporers like Galba, Titus, Vespasian, and the provinces of the empire and beyond are named on embossed copper plaques.

The Amphora and the coins were fired in one of my Roman kilns and here you can see a pot full of the coins glowing red hot in the fire.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

NAAFI Mugs for Dover Castle

2011-05-04T01:23:00.000-07:00

While my days are usually spent in prehistory, Roman Britain or the Anglo Saxon period, my claim the "If it's old and made from clay, I can replicate it" was tested in a rather unusual way recently when I was asked to make replica Second World War (WW2) mugs for the NAAFI at Dover Castle. These were based on broken mugs found on the site.

They are now part of a reconstructed interior setting where they are ready to be filled with kye, a robust concoction of dark chocolate, condensed milk and sugar. In the interests of developing my understanding of the people who used pots in the past I actually tried a cup of kye; possibly the sweetest thing I have ever tasted. You can find more about Kye or Kai on this site Rum Ration on The Navy Network including a recipe, try it if you dare! Also check out Dover Castle, now that's a day out!

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Bamburgh Castle and the Laidley Worm

2011-05-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

Completed at last, the series of interactive panels for Bamburgh Castle, upon which I have been working for some months. They illustrate the story of the Laidley Worm and will be situated around the castle so that visitors can seek them out and take rubbings from them. Look out for them, they'll be in service pretty soon.

THE LEGEND OF THE LAIDLEY WORM

Long ago in the mysterious time of magic that we now call the Dark Ages there lived at Din Guayrdi King Ida. Sadly Ida's wife, the queen, died leaving the King, his daughter Margaret and his son Child Wynd. Child Wynd decided to set sail to seek adventure and fortune beyond the seas while Margaret remained to comfort her father.

One day while he was out hunting in the forest Ida met an enchantress, Behoc and fell instantly in love with her. In jubilation Ida brought his new love back to the castle to meet Margaret.

But Margaret was suspicious of Behoc who perceiving Margaret to be threat pretended to offer friendship and invited her to visit a cavern beneath the castle where a magnificent gem lay hidden. But it was a trap and Behoc cast a spell over Margaret

About this time there came terrible news of a most Laidley (Loathsome) Worm which was terrorising the countryside around the village of Spindlestone.

News of of the evil doings of this terrible creature spread far and wide eventually reaching the ears of Child Wynd who sailed day and night to return to his native Northumbria.

Hunting down the worm Child Wynd eventually confronted the worm and showing no fear challenged the beast. And yet as he did so his heart was softened when he saw a tear fall from the worm's eye,

The worm told Child Wynd that it was in fact non-other than his own sister Margaret bewitched by Behoc and that to lift the spell he must kiss the beast three times. Summoning all his courage Child Wynd did as the worm asked and as he delivered the third kiss he found himself stand next to his beloved sister.

Returning to the castle Child Wynd took a branch from a Rowan Tree, potent with the forces of magic and touched Behoc with the branch. Immediately she was transformed in to an ugly toad and Child Wynd picked her up and dropped her down the castle well into a secret cavern, where she remains imprisoned to this very day, awaiting a kiss to release her from her bondage. I suspect she will wait a very ... long ... time!

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Beaker Firing

2011-04-09T03:19:00.000-07:00

A very successful beaker firing last night, firing in the dark makes it possible to see exactly how hot the pots are getting whereas in the daylight you can't see the pots glowing. If you'd like to make your own beaker and see it fired in an open firing come and join the event at Cairnpapple over Easter, see post below.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Bronze-Age Pottery Workshops at Cairnpapple Scotland

2011-03-31T08:40:00.000-07:00

I'll be running Bronze-Age pottery workshops at Historic Scotland's fantastic Prehistoric site at Cairnpapple, Beecraigs and Bathgate (See Map).

This workshop will give you a much clearer understanding of the processes that went into the creation of prehistoric pots and will equip you to; prospect for natural clay and prepare it for pot making; make your own prehistoric tool kit; make and decorate replicas of prehistoric pots and fire them in an authentic manner. You need no previous experience, this will not be a dry academic workshop but the content will be of use to People with a general interest as well as Archaeologists and Curators.

Looking at the Pots: Using replicas and original potsherds we will look at making methods, clay bodies, tools used, firing methods, potential uses, methods of deposition, preservation vs. decomposition, etc
Raw Materials: How to find and prepare your materials. We will look at the types and sources of raw materials and their storage. All participants will prepare their own clay with appropriate inclusions.
Tools of the Trade: All participants will make their own Bronze-Age Pottery Toolkit including; combs, scrapers, cord, modelling tools etc., using materials such as: Birch bark, Bone, Antler, Slate, Shell, Wood, Flint etc. The tools will be based on marks found on ancient pots.
I will demonstrate various basic Making Methods: including; thumb pot, coil etc., then it's your turn to have a go; making & decorating; beakers, food vessels, collared urns, etc. With lots of information, hints, tips, help where needed and encouragement, all participants will have the opportunity to make at least two pots, possibly many more.
Sunday will be firing day although there will be plenty of opportunity to carry on making pots as well. The post will be open fired just as their Bronze-Age originals would have been. There's much more to this than simply putting them in a bonfire but I'll give you the benefit of my experience and teach you how to be a great prehistoric pot firer!

The workshops which will run on Friday 22 April, Saturday 23 April, & Sunday 24 April 2011.

Cost £50 for any two days

For Bookings Contact:

IAN LEWIS Historic Scotland Countryside Ranger
Address: Rangers' Office, Linlithgow Peel, Linlithgow, EH49 7AL
Tel: (01506) 842065
e-mail: ian.lewis@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Web: www.historic-scotland.gov.uk

Any problems
Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk
or contact me cairnpapple@pottedhistory.co.uk

Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon Pottery Workshop

2011-03-30T05:09:00.000-07:00

The Anglo-Saxon pottery workshop which I ran at Sutton Hoo on Sunday 27th March 2011 produced some great results. A small but dedicated group of participants produced some great replica pots using natural clays and replica tools. One lady brought along clay from West Stow to which, after looking at sherds of original pottery from that site, she added animal dung to provide a similar carbon content. All based on pots from the Pagan period the pots were entirely hand built and decorated using bone and antler stamps which the students also had the opportunity to make. The on-site cafe provided us with a delicious light lunch and some excellent cake and coffee. I'm planning to run another experimental archaeology experimental workshop at Sutton Hoo in the Autumn, probably late September and possibly including a firing, if you'd be interested in attending contact me via my website. You can also follow me on Twitter @pottedhistory.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

The Eagles Have Landed

2011-01-22T15:56:00.000-08:00

I've been working with a group of students from Burnside College in Wallsend to create a piece of sculpture relating to trade throughout the Roman Empire. It will consist of an amphora pouring a cascade of ceramic coins onto a map of the Roman World and will form part of "The Eagles Have Landed" exhibition at Tullie House, Carlisle. The coins will stream out across the map in a network of trade routes.

We have made a two metre diameter map of the Roman World entirely composed of miniature terracotta thumb pots giving it the appearance of broken pots, representing the excavated remains of ancient Rome.

Each area and country will be labelled with a copper nameplate

and the whole sculpture will be placed on a raised plinth.

We have made many hundreds of large ceramic coins and ........ it's getting pretty crowded in my workshop!

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Wonderful Flint Tools

2011-01-11T16:18:00.000-08:00

Taking a piece of soft plastic clay in my hand and forming it into a pot I understand, but striking a piece of flint with a piece of deer antler and controlling the way the the fracture passes through the stone just seems magical. I'm sure that if I put as many hours into hitting bits of stone as I have into shaping clay I would get the hang of it but with people as talented as John Lord around I think I'll stick to the mud, if you'll pardon the pun. I'm busy upgrading my handling collections for the coming year so I ordered a few bits and pieces for John's site www.flintknapping.co.uk and yesterday they arrived.

A flaked Neolithic Axe Head, two Tang & Barb Arrow Heads and possibly my favourite a Beaker Dagger. I'm just really awed by the beauty of them. I'm going to be hafting them and putting them together with appropriate pots to display when I'm doing my demos.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

From Ancient Egypt to English Country Slipware

2011-01-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

I think I've said before that my work can be quite wide and varied, well here's an example: Over the past few days I've been working on sets of Egyptian Canopic Jars and some English Slipware.

Canopic Jar Set

Slipware Puzzle Jug

In this jar there is good liquor

Fit for either clerk or vicar

But to drink and not to spill

Will try the utmost of your skill

A Slipware Harvest Jug

Good luck to the hoof and the horn

Good luck to the flock and fleece

Good luck to the growers of corn

With blessings of plenty and peace

Getting a bit nautical with this Mermaid Jug

Posset

A Health to King Charles

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Kiln Floor in Production

2010-11-27T08:22:00.000-08:00

You might be forgiven for thinking that it's National Boring Photograph Day but this pic does illustrate the fact that, while we are in the grips of winter here in Rothbury, work on the Roman kilns is going ahead. These clay bars will form the floor of the firing chamber and will be laid, radiating out from a central support like the spokes of a wheel, allowing the flames to pass up from the firebox and combustion chamber, see Roman Sunken Kiln Under Construction below.

Kiln bars drying in the workshop

I haven't been back to the Westhills kiln since my last blog on the subject and my work on the York kiln got rained off after three days. In this time I did however get the sunken part of the kiln dug out and most of the raised chamber wall built and clay lined. It's actually mixing the clay and soil that takes the time, if I was working on an actual Roman Pottery production site with a high clay content in the soil I would simply add water. As it is the soil on site is mostly sand and builders rubble so needs careful sorting and clay adding to it.

York kiln - lining the chamber with clay

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Prehistoric Pottery Disposal Experiment

2010-11-27T04:19:00.000-08:00

I have started an experiment to find out how a large piece of collared urn will stand up to the winter weather. The pot was made by me a couple of years ago and spalled in the firing, I broke it a few months ago and have kept the pieces for just such experiments. I've put it on the snow in a plant tub outside the back of my workshop and it's already covered in snow. I'll try to keep you updated with it's Taphonomy!

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Roman Pottery Kiln Progress

2010-11-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

Installed the Ware chamber floor today and started applying the clay lining. Unfortunately there won't be any further work on it until Monday at least.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Roman Sunken Kiln Under Construction

2010-11-06T05:41:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has been so long since I've recorded my work here, it's been a very busy summer so there's lots of catching up to do, but I'll get to that over the winter.

Over the past couple of days I've been building a sunken type Roman kiln for my own use not far from my workshop. The site was kindly offered by retired potter (I'm not sure that such a thing exists) Alastair Hardie & his wife Kate at Westfield Farm, Thropton Northumberland. It is situated at the rear of the farm on a raised sand bank about two meters above the flood plain of the Wreigh Burn. The ground consisted of about 50cm of compacted soil and building rubble, the residue of the concrete floor of an agricultural building which once stood on the site, over natural compacted sand. This has proved to be an ideal situation, the compacted surface gives strength to the structure while the sand is relatively easy to work and provides a very well drained base for the kiln.

Although I was working alone, the digging of the ware chamber, stoking pit and fire box and the lining of the latter with ceramic brick took less than eight hours. For the sake of speed I have used some recycled fire brick in the lining of the firebox. This is the area of the kiln that most archaeologists would refer to as a flue, this is an incorrect use of the term, as the function of a flue is only to carry gasses from one part of a kiln or furnace to another, as in 'exit flue' which as the name suggests carries waste gasses out of the kiln. The firebox by contrast is where the fuel is burned.

Today I'll be setting the floor, again for the sake of speed, using modern refractory but I may replace this later for experimental purposes. I'll report back later today.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Making Medieval

2010-07-04T07:22:00.000-07:00

I'll be at Rievaulx Abbey Saturday and Sunday 10th and 11th July demonstrating Mediaeval potting methods so I'm making some additions to my handling collection in the form of a replica Aquamanille and a couple of Scarborough Ware Knight Jugs. Great fun!

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Zeus figures now available

2010-07-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

Working on ceramic figures of Zeus for Tyne & Wear Museums today

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

The Team at Making the Bronze Age

2010-06-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Making The Bronze Age; Bellwood Riverside Park, Perth, Scotland

2010-06-21T04:48:00.000-07:00

Back in my own workshop, in Rothbury, Northumberland, after a weekend as part of a re-enactment event on the banks of the beautiful Tay. What a great event this was and I am delighted to have been a part of is, organised by the Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust (PKHT). ‘Making the Bronze Age’ brought together Archaeo-Craftspeople and Re-enactors from the

and

Germany

to demonstrate some of the skills that created the wonderful artefacts that have been found in

Scotland

and beyond.

I spent the weekend, ably assisted by Sarah Winlow of (PKHT), teaching participants to make beakers and food vessels from natural clay and open firing Bronze Age replicas. If you missed it and would like to see something like it take place next year contact me or the Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust and let us know. Among those involved were:

Neil Burridge: Ancient Bronze Specialists http://www.templeresearch.eclipse.co.uk/bronze/index.htm

who ran several bronze sword castings during the course of the weekend. Watching molten bronze, stream into a clay mould and emerge as a beautiful bronze sword is nothing short of wizardry. It’s no wonder that people of the past saw founders and smiths as beings from another dimension, controlling forces that weren’t quite of this earth. I know from my own discipline that the control and use of fire is still considered to be something magical.

Damian Goodburn: Ancient Woodworking Specialist, who along with numerous assistants including Trevor Cowie of the National Museums of

Scotland

and David Strachan of PKHT, created a replica of the Ballachulish Goddess or Ballachulish Figure. The original figure, dating from the Bronze Age, was found on the side of Loch Leven in 1880. While photographs taken at the time show a remarkable state of preservation, the Victorian archaeologists had no knowledge of conservation techniques for wet timber and in the process of drying out the figure has shrivelled to be virtually unrecognisable. It can still be seen in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh but working with replica bronze tools and guided by the original photographs, drawings and measurements, this replica attempted to present her as she would have looked when newly made.

The Crannog Centre http://www.crannog.co.uk/ demonstrated the uses of some of the many plant species that have been excavated from Loch Tay, around the ancient crannog. Nettle soup and hand dyed wool was the order of the day.

German re-enactment group Stamm Alauni www.stamm-alauni.at who, dressed in authentic replica costume and armour and using weapons, tools and utensils of the period, presented an insight into life in the Bronze Age across Europe.

Twist Fibre Craft Studio http://www.twistfibrecraft.co.uk/ demonstrated spinning and weaving and Archaeoloink http://www.archaeolink.co.uk/ showed how cord and rope was made from natural plant fibres and bark bast.

I spent the weekend teaching participants to make beakers and food vessels from natural clay and open firing Bronze Age replicas. If you missed it and would like to see something like it take place next year contact me and I’ll pass on your comments to the Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust. If you were there let me know what you thought of it.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Bronze Age Pots for Perth

2010-06-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

Working on some bronze age pots to accompany me on my workshop in Perth, Scotland, Saturday and Sunday 19th & 20th June 2010.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Slipware Wedding Plate

2010-05-28T04:42:00.001-07:00

Successfully completed the wedding plate commission, in the tradition of Thomas Toft.

www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Ancient Firing Technology

2010-05-26T01:31:00.000-07:00

Most books one reads talk about 'bonfire firing'; fast open firings using large quantities of wood and accepting a quite high percentage of loss. But it's my belief that large open outdoor fires would have been used only for very large pots and even then the fire would have been very carefully controlled. People in subsistence economies do not waste fuel resources or their own labour. Most beakers would have been made in the house while sitting around the fire, they would then have been placed on the perimeter of the hearth and left there for several days, turning them occasionally, until they were absolutely dry. The pot would then be moved closer to the fire to begin preheating. Fine pots like beakers require a relatively slow firing and the best way to start is to invert the pot with its rim on three small stones over a small amount of hot charcoal, replenishing this until the pot reached about 400C; with most natural clays this will be indicated by a visible darkening of the body. At this stage hot charcoal can be built up around the pot and after a further few minutes small kindling added and the pot fired up to red heat, best seen in the darkness of a hut interior.

Come along to one of my workshops and help make the magic happen.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

National Towel Day

2010-05-25T03:02:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure that I qualify as a 'Hoopy Frood' but I do always know where my towel is, it's beside my wheel covered in clay. With respect to the late Douglas Adams.
Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

The Joy of Field Walking

2010-05-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

Field walking with Coquetdale Community Archaeologytoday, in the Coquet Valley today over a field where the local farmer has been finding lots of flints. Experts have agreed that the majority are Mesolithic so we decided to have a look and see if there were any hot spots and if, as the finds so far have suggested, this was a production site. The results of the day will have to wait until all the finds have been sorted and plotted on a map of the field, but for me the highlight of the day has to be holding in my hand tools, which you can be pretty certain, were last held by a hunter/gatherer over six thousand years ago. That's pretty special. Looking around you know that while the vegetation may have changed, woodland come and gone and the river meandered back and forth across it's flood plain, the curve of the hills and the shape of the landscape is very much as these Mesolithic hunters would have seen it.

And my favourite find of the day has to be this little scraper blade.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Huge Canopic Jars Completed

2010-05-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

Set of painted canopis jars ready to go off to the Yorkshire Museum. These are the largest that I have made, the largest standing over 50cm tall.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Charlie Brooker, Museums, Pots and Boredom

2010-05-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Self styled Ranter Charlie Brooker, with whose words of wisdom, I have to confess, I usually concur, was heard on the Jeremy Vine show, on Friday 14th May 2010, saying:

“Say you find yourself staring at an old pot, your brain being an incredibly sophisticated computer immediately asses that it’s an old pot and that old pots are boring. It’s not going to dance, or sing heart breaking songs of yesteryear, it won’t even rock gently in the breeze, it’s just going to sit there being a pot. Probably a broken one at that, if it was on television they’d at least have the decency to back it with some upbeat techno while zooming in and out, and even then you’d immediately switch over. That said, because you’ve got the misfortune of actually being there in front of it, surrounded by other people, you have to stand and look at the poxy thing for a minimum of about thirty seconds before moving on to gawp at the next bit of old rubbish, otherwise everyone’s going to think you’re a philistine. Museums are full of secretly bored people pulling falsely contemplative faces; it’s a weird mass public mime. “

Needless to say I'm not in agreement on this one! Old pots do dance, with the remembered movements of the potter’s hands, the spin of the wheel, the kick of the foot, the flash of fire. They do sing songs of yesteryear; of the potters who made them, digging the clay from the earth, forming it with their hands, firing it incandescent yellow and red in kilns burning only wood. They sing of the rare commodities they carried, wine, olive oil, garum, honey, incense; of the exotic ancient lands where they originated and through which they travelled; of the sailors who navigated their fragile ships through raging seas to bring them to our shores. They tell the tales of the people who used them; of ancient ways of cooking, eating and drinking; of strange ritual, religious and magical practices. I’m really rather surprised to find that Mr Brooker doesn’t have the imagination to see that, or is it simply polemic?

I have always said that “ancient pots in museum cases sometimes appear quite boring, I know that they're not!” and I have always thought that it is my job to bring them to life. Never mind the “upbeat techno”, I offer the archaeological equivalent of live theatre. Once people see the dead potsherd reborn on the wheel, witness lump of clay spiralling up into a pot: Once they have held a replica of that pot in their hands: Once they have heard the story of its creation and use many thousands of years ago: Then their “boredom” turns to fascination. I have had groups that were simply passing through the museum stay and talk with me for over an hour.

Children are the harshest critics, capable of delivering killer blows far more cutting than anything Charlie Brooker can dish out. I often work with groups of “disengaged youth” they usually don’t want to leave at the end of the session. With children I often use a few sherds of North African olive oil amphorae that I have. I get them to hold onto the dull boring bit of pot, I even tell them that that’s what it is, then I tell them the story: of the potter on the north coast of Africa, how he dug and prepared his clay, formed the pot on the wheel, fired it in his kiln; of the olive grower who bought the pot along with many thousands of others, how he picked and pressed the olives to extract the oil and then packed it into the pot sealing it with beeswax or pitch: of the merchant who bought the now full amphora and the altar he set up to ensure the safe completion of his trading venture to Britannia: of the dock workers and loaded and secured the very heavy pot in its place in the bottom of the hold ensuring that it couldn’t move and capsize the boat: of the sailors who sailed the ship through the busy shipping lanes and trade routes of the Mediterranean, out through the pillars of Hercules into the wild storm tossed Atlantic: of their fear of the open ocean and their offerings to the Gods of the deep to keep them safe on their Journey: Of the ship safely delivered to Arbeia at the mouth of the Tyne where the Amphora was transferred to a flat bottomed barge and carefully steered up river by the Praefectus numeri barcariorum Tigrisiensium, Arbeia "The Company of Bargemen from the Tigris at Arbeia" : of the merchant who received the consignment of olive oil and sold it from his taberna in the town of Coria (Corbridge): Of the citizens who burned the oil in their lamps, cooked their food with it, offered it to their household gods in the Lararium, mixed it with white lead and applied it as makeup, rubbed it on old battle wounds to heal them, massaged themselves with it in the bath house and when the amphora was finally empty of the rubbish dump where it was deposited in the field next to the town: of the children who broke it into small pieces while practicing with their slingshots and used the broken pieces while playing board games leaving only a few remaining sherds for me to pick up over 1600 years later.

And the response I usually get? ........................ Now can you tell me about this one. Maybe the children have a more active and accommodating imagination than Charlie Brooker. Or maybe it’s just that their “incredibly sophisticated computer” brains are in better working order.

POTS ARE NOT BORING and if you'd like me to prove that Charlie Brooker you can come on one of my workshops FREE OF CHARGE.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

TRIAL BY FIRE

2010-05-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

With any ceramic piece the firing is always the most risky part of the making process but this is particularly the case with prehistoric, open fired pots. This weekend has seen me firing a Neolithic bowl, beakers, food vessels, canopic jars and a 17th Century slipware wedding plate although this last item I have to confess is in the electric kiln. It's needed for a wedding in a week's time and there's no margin for error

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

THE JOY OF TOOLS

2010-05-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

There is something very special and satisfying about using replicas of ancient tools to make a replica of an ancient tool. Making tools to make tools isn't that one of the activities that makes us human?

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

WORK IN PROGRESS

2010-05-02T02:42:00.000-07:00

What I love most about my work is the diversity, my workshop is always full of pieces from a whole range of time periods. Requests from museums always open up new avenues of enquiry and research. Even though I have made the things that are on my workshop shelves they are not my forms, they're the things that have always fascinated me in museums, so not only do I have my own ever changing museum, but I get to investigate them in a way that would not be possible in any other circumstance. The photo above is the stuff I'm busy with today, canopic jars, Neolithic bowl and some Bronze Age pots from Perth & Kinross. These last pieces are being made in preparation for my demonstrations and workshops at the 'Making the Bronze Age' event at; Bellwood Riverside Park on the 19th & 20th June 2010, during the Perthshire Archaeology Month. At this event I'll be making and firing, beakers, food vessels, collared urns and much more, as well as giving members of the public the chance to have a go. Neil Burridge will be making Bronze Age swords, Damian Goodburn and David Strachan will be making a BA wood carving, Twist Fibre Craft Studio will be making textiles, etc, etc, etc. Try to come along and join in the fun.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

SAMIAN WARE WORKSHOP

2010-04-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

The next workshop in my new series at Elsdon is on the subject of Roman Samian Ware. In this one you will learn to make and decorate high status Samian Ware pots, just as Roman potters did two thousans years ago. All of the techniques and equipment you will use are based on excavated examples or experimental research. This workshop is suitable for anyone with an interest in ancient potting techniques but will be of particular interest to archaeologists both professional and amateur as well as museum curators and those involved with Roman archaeological sites.

Using replicas and original potsherds we will look at making methods, clay bodies, tools used, firing methods, potential uses, methods of deposition, preservation vs. decomposition, etc

Punches and Moulds: Based on replica examples, images of originals and potsherds, you will make your own set of Samian potters decorative stamps. You can even make your own Samian makers mark. These will then be used to create your own mould for a Form Dr37 (these pots have such romantic names!) bowl using a pre prepared mould blank.

With lots of information, hints, tips, help where needed and encouragement, all participants will have the opportunity to make at least two pots, possibly many more. Using a reconstruction of a Roman potters’ wheel you will begin the process of making pots in moulds and free throwing pots which can be decorated using Barbotine, Sprigging, rouletting, chattering and stamping methods. Pre prepared plain pots to decorate will also be provided.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

The Roman Pottery Workshop

2010-04-26T00:54:00.000-07:00

The Gods of the Lararium were smiling upon us over the weekend. The workshop went really well with everyone producing several Roman Pots, lamps and goddess figures.

A great time was had by all and the food was fantastic.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Workshop Nearly Ready

2010-04-22T00:53:00.000-07:00

The workshop is ready to go and there are many workshops planned for the future. I don't suppose that a collection lof different types of ancient potters whee like this, , can be seen anywhere else in the country.

ROMAN POTTERY WORKSHOP

In this workshop you will learn to make and decorate pots, just as the Romans did, on both stick and kick wheels. In addition you will have the opportunity to create your own Roman Head pot using a pre prepared pot and you will make your own Roman oil lamp and Goddess figure.

Day 1:

Looking at the Pots: Using replicas and original potsherds we will look at making methods, clay bodies, tools used, firing methods, potential uses, methods of deposition, preservation vs. decomposition, etc

Raw Materials: How to find and prepare your materials. We will look at the types and sources of raw materials and their storage. All participants will prepare their own clay with appropriate inclusions.

Demonstration of the various types of potters' wheel and mould making techniques

Wheel practice working in pairs and with lots of assistance

Day 2:

Making & Decorating: With lots of information, hints, tips, help where needed and encouragement, all participants will have the opportunity to make at least two pots, possibly many more. You can choose from a variety of techniques.

All materials and equipment will be provided. All pots and tools that you make during the workshop are yours to keep. As it is not possible to dry the pots sufficiently to be able to open fire them during the two day course, firing is offered as a separate one day event. This will be an optional third day of the workshop at a later date, at no extra charge, if you can't attend, your pots will be fired for you and can be shipped to you by DHL at cost. Photographs of the firing will be taken. The cost of the workshop includes lunch at the Coach House, delicious home made soup and a roll with a choice of deserts, coffee and home made cakes at break time. If you have any special dietary requirements please inform us in advance.

Accommodation and travel are not included, but a list of local accommodation providers is available on request.

Phone 01669 622890
email ap2010@pottedhistory.co.uk
Visit my website at http://www.pottedhistory.co.uk/

Volcanic Sunset in Northumberland

2010-04-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

From Inner Golden Pot at the top of the Coquet Valley looking out, over the Cheviot Hills, into the Scottish Borders, what a way to relax after a hard day of workshop building!

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

The First Pot on a New Wheel

2010-04-16T15:23:00.000-07:00

What a joy, to create a new wheel in the image of a very old wheel and then make the first pot on it. I'm delighted to say that it performed beautifully. Counting down to the first Roman pottery workshop in my new studio. Shelves are up, the number of wheels is growing by the day and I'm getting quite excited.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Six Wheels on my Workshop.....so far

2010-04-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

And I'm aiming for ten. Today I built two stick wheels, one floor mounted and one a seated wheel, and cast the flywheels for two momentum kick wheels. I'm trying to cover a wide variety of wheel types and from the Stibbington, wheel alone it's obvious that the Romans used both stick and kick. I want participants in my workshops to have the opportunity of experiencing both types. As you will see from the photographs, today I've made wheels which utilise old cart wheels as the flywheel. This type of wheel was certainly used during the mediaeval period as shown in various mauscripts, it's still used in India and I can't believe that Roman potters would have missed the opportunity to utilise an old cart wheel.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Bronze-Age Jewellery

2010-04-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping to recreate some sets of Bronze-Age grave goods so I'm setting myself the challenge of making a jet necklace from Kyloe in Northumberland. I suspect that this reconstruction from the 1928 edition of Archaeologia Aeliana isn't quite correct but .............

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Magic Sites in Northumberland

2010-04-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

Simonside & the Coquet Valley from Castle Hill

Today was our day off, a luxury that we allow ourselves now and again. Today we decided to wander round a few of the more remote archaeological sites in North Northumberland. Few visitors to Northumberland ever leave the main tourist route of Coast and Castles and they really miss a treat, in this county you really can get far from the madding crowd. Our first stop was the Iron Age hill fort on Castle Hill above Alnham. It's hard to find, you're not alerted to its presence by its silhouette on the horizon, as you are with many of the other hill forts. The approach is via a single track, unfenced road, which passes Alnham church (a gem in itself but that's for another day) and snakes its way up the hillside, through a farm yard and over a ridge heading into the heart of the Cheviots. It's at this point that you have to find somewhere to leave the car. No brown boards, interpretation signs or National Trust car park to welcome you. An unpromising narrow sheep track leads up the hill, through a couple of gates onto the top. Suddenly you are presented with a breathtaking view, over deeply dug ancient bank and ditch ramparts, to my beloved Coquet Valley and the Simonside Hills in the South and the snow covered Cheviots to the North and West. When I was last here, about four or five years ago, rabbits were rapidly digging away the banks, this now seems to have abated, possibly because they have realised that the thin topsoil masks ramparts composed almost entirely of sharp Cheviot redstone lavas.

Now I’ve called today’s blog 'Magic Sites in Northumberland' which may be a little romantic but as we sat on the ramparts looking out at the view the sun broke thorough the clouds and the silence was broken by the song of rising skylarks all around us. It really was pretty magical but an even more magical site awaited us.

From Alnham we headed for Milfield and a great lunch at the Milfield Country Café, after which I bought a useful little book by Archaeologist Clive Waddington; ‘Maelmin a pocket guide to archaeological walks'. Walks centered around the Maelmin Heritage trail. One in particular caught my eye, a place that I have meant to visit for years, Roughtin Lynn.

The waterfall, Roughtin Lynn (or Linn), is hidden in an overgrown gorge with, dare I say it, a quite magical atmosphere. It's not a big waterfall, it's certainly doesn't carry a large volume of water, but it is a very beautiful waterfall. Most importantly as far as I'm concerned it lies at the heart of an ancient landscape containing England's single largest rock art site, which did not disappoint, right next to a deeply ditched and banked enclosure, which may be a strangely placed hill fort but is possibly much older. This site certainly warrants a second visit and it will get one.

Anyway, back to the workshop I've got to make potters wheels for my forthcoming Roman Pottery workshop and canopic jars for a couple of museums.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Great 'History of Pottery' website

2010-04-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

I just found the most amazing historical pottery website by fellow potter Steve Earp http://thisdayinpotteryhistory.wordpress.com/ Check it out.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Ancient Pottery Workshops

2010-03-18T07:57:00.000-07:00

The first workshop went really well, on the Monday we even managed to fire everything we had made, in the hearth of an Iron-Age Rondhouse, at Brigantium. So on to the next workshops and they are as follows:

Ancient pottery workshops by GRAHAM TAYLOR at the Coach House, Elsdon.

ROMAN SAMIAN WARE
May 15th & 16th.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROMAN WHEEL MADE POTTERY –One day workshop
June 22nd.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREHISTORIC POTTERY
July 24th & 25th.

MANY OTHER DATES WILL BE AVAILABLE.

GROUPS CAN BOOK ADDITIONAL DATES AND WORKSHOPS CAN BE DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR YOUR REQUIREMENTS, PLEASE CONTACT ME

NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED FOR ANY OF THESE WORKSHOPS.

The cost of all workshops includes: Rita’s great home made Coach House Lunches, coffee/tea breaks, all materials, and firing of the pots.

These workshops are intended for adults, although some young Advanced Learners may benefit from them, but must be accompanied by a paying adult. Please ask about suitability before booking for a young person. Payment for the workshop can be made by cheque, debit/credit card to secure a booking.

All materials and equipment will be provided. All pots and tools that you make during the workshop are yours to keep. Information sheets will be provided to help you continue potting once you return home.

Accommodation and travel are not included but list of local accommodation providers is available on request. Elsdon is situated in the Northumberland National Park and you will need your own transport as it is virtually impossible to reach it by public transport.

ROMAN WHEEL MADE POTTERY: Learn the ancient skills of the potters’ wheel using an authentic reconstruction of a Roman wheel.

ROMAN SAMIAN WARE: The most prestigious pottery of the Roman era Samian Ware was produced on the wheel and in moulds. This workshop will teach you the techniques of mould making and pot making.

BRONZE-AGE POTTERY WORKSHOP: This workshop will equip participants to; prospect for natural clay and prepare it for pot making; make their own prehistoric tool kit; make and decorate replicas of prehistoric pots and fire them in an authentic manner.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Amphorae under pressure

2010-03-02T15:24:00.000-08:00

Despite the mad dash to get my new studio ready for this comming weekend workshop, I have been making a few replicas. The amphorae for the Royal Institution of Cornwall and a head pot for Malton museum have been among the pieces that got finished.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Prehistoric & Roman Pottery Workshops

2010-02-08T15:35:00.000-08:00

OK ........ I have committed myself, my new pottery teaching studio, at the Coach House in Elsdon , Northumberland, will be ready for the end of the month and I'm launching my first workshop there on March 6th & 7th. This will be a two day workshop on Prehistoric Pottery.

This workshop will equip participants to; prospect for natural clay and prepare it for pot making; make their own prehistoric tool kit; make and decorate replicas of prehistoric pots and fire them in an authentic manner. As it is not possible to dry the pots sufficiently to be able to open fire them during the two day course, firing is offered as a separate one day event. In some cases it will be possible for participants to attend a firing workshop on the following day although this will not allow them to fire their own pots made during the workshop.

All materials and equipment will be provided. All pots and tools that you make during the workshop are yours to keep. Information sheets will be provided to help you continue potting once you return home.

People attending this workshop may also find the following of interest:
Roman Wheel Made Pottery
Roman Mould Made Pottery
Making Roman Samian Ware
Building Roman Kilns
Build Your Own Roman Potter’s Wheel

Accommodation and travel are not included but list of local accommodation providers is available on request.

Elsdon is situated in the Northumberland National Park and you will need your own transport as it is virtually impossible to reach it by public transport.

Day 1:

10-00: Looking at the Pots: Using replicas and original potsherds we will look at making methods, clay bodies, tools used, firing methods, potential uses, methods of deposition, preservation vs. decomposition, etc

11-00: Raw Materials: How to find and prepare you materials. We will look at the types and sources of raw materials and their storage. All participants will prepare their own clay with appropriate inclusions.

12-00: Lunch and informal discussion

13-00: Tools of the Trade: All participants will make their own Bronze-Age Pottery Toolkit including; combs, scrapers, cord, modelling tools etc.. Using materials such as: Birch bark, Bone, Antler, Slate, Shell, Wood, Flint etc. The tools will be based on marks found on the pots.

14-30: Basic Making Methods: including; thumb pot, coil etc

16-00 Finish

Day 2:

10-00: Making & Decorating; beakers, food vessels, collared urns, etc. With lots information, hints, tips, help where needed and encouragement, all participants will have the opportunity to make at least two pots.

12-00: Lunch with Traditional African Firing video presentation of a firing method which is closely related to Bronze-Age techniques.

13-00: Making & Decorating; continued

16-00 Finish

Additional Day: (Preferably after a break of at least one week during which time the pots will be stored in a warm place to dry them thoroughly). If you have travelled far, you may wish to leave your pots to be fired (there will be a handling and shipping charge for this service) or to take them home and fire them yourself.

10-00: Open Firing: The pots will be fired in an open or “bonfire” firing, this is a slow process and will involve quite a lot of sitting around the fire. Firing is a slow process which cannot be rushed, so there will be the opportunity to make more pots, discuss the work that we have done during the workshop and stare distantly into the hot coals of the fire. I would suggest a “bring and cook” barbeque lunch may well add to the “Hunter-Gatherer” atmosphere and could help with a theory of mine that most Bronze-Age pots would have been made around the domestic hearth.

15-30 Finish

For prices and more details contact me at info@pottedhistory.co.uk

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Coiled and Filmed: Hand Building Pottery

2010-02-06T14:49:00.000-08:00

I've been trying my hand at some rather poor film making (OK those of you who have read my mini rant about experimental archaeology (below) would have every right to say don't make a film without asking someone who knows what they're doing, and you'd probably be right). That said my intention has been to record some of my methods rather than make an Oscar winner.

Here is one that I put together which shows me making the large Anglo Saxon pot for the Yeavering Exhibition, it's more of a slide show than a video but it gives an idea of how I work.

The technique of hand forming pots differs from one part of the world, indeed in Lesotho I found that it differed from one village to another and even from potter to potter. The one thing that I am pretty certain about is that it probably never uses the technique which is so often taught in schools where coil after coil of clay is places on top of its predecessor in the rough shape of the finished pot and then finally smoothed together. This is why I tend to avoid the term 'coiling' because this is the image that it conjures in the mind.

But as you will see from the video, my technique which is much more akin to the techniques I have seen used in Africa, forms the wall of the pot as each new coil of clay is added. It also results in the sort of diagonal joints that have been reported in much prehistoric pottery.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Young Potters

2010-01-04T02:44:00.000-08:00

At a recent Children's Archaeology Day event, organised by Coquetdale Community Archaeology, in Harbottle, Northumberland, I took along my Roman potter's wheel and manged to get a group of young people to produce some quite accomplished pots on it. I know that most people find their first attempt on the wheel pretty difficult, so I was absolutely delighted with the results that these children produced. Look out for many more demonstrations and workshops for chidren and adults in the coming year.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Egyptian Bread

2009-11-25T15:08:00.001-08:00

Other recent bread making activity has included using the conical pots of the type used in the Valley of the Kings. Quite successful although I dont think I have got the dough consistency quite right yet.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Roman Pottery workshops for schools

2009-11-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

Just finished throwing 35 pots which will form the backbone of my workshop with a class of Key Stage 2 children at a Northumbrian school tomorrow. I start the day with the whole class by demonstrating how the Romans made pots on the wheel and how they made lamps in moulds. We then move on to my handling collection of replicas and sherds. during the remainder of the day I work with groups of about ten children at a time, an hour with each group and they turn my rather plain thrown pots into their own interpretations of Roman head pots. Great fun and lots of learning are generally had by all!

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Samian at Last

2009-11-10T12:38:00.000-08:00

I have finally managed to find the time to fire the batch of Samian Ware that I made over a month ago! Much to the relief of some of my customers!

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Bread and Circuses

2009-11-09T15:48:00.000-08:00

Although I am a potter and would normally say that this is my only real area of expertise, I have in recent years, been called upon to bake bread on several occasions. This came about because, after I built the Roman kiln for Segedunum, they asked if I could also build for them, a Roman bread oven. Not being one to turn down a challenge I said yes.

The Oven was loosely based on evidence from the ones at Chichester and Doune Primary School. It was constructed on a masonry and rubble base, using hazel withies as an integral former for the clay dome. The baking floor is made up of sandstone flags and the exterior is finished with a layer of plaster. It works on the preheating principal, whereby a wood fire is lit inside the baking chamber and the whole structure is thoroughly heated for several hours. In order to bake the fire is raked out and the floor of the oven swept, the prepared dough being placed directly onto the heated flagstones.

I have used this oven many times now and it has proved successful on every occasion. So successful in fact that it got me hooked and I just had to find out more about bread making. I started researching, making and using various pots associated with the process, from different periods of history, and possibly putting on a little weight in the process.

The Clibanus or Testum is basically a small portable oven from the Roman period and pieces of Clibani have recently been found at the Amphitheatre in Chester, where it is suggested that they were used for producing fast food. The photo shows one of my replicas in use baking bread. Again a fire is lit on a flat stone and the clibanus put next to it to preheat. The stone, once thoroughly heated, is cleaned and the dough placed on it covered by the clibanus. Hot ashes and burning charcoal are then placed on top of the clibanus, after about half an hour the pot is removed to reveal a perfectly baked loaf! Every barbecue should have one! As for the circuses? Well nobody has asked me yet!!

Visit my website at http://www.pottedhistory.co.uk/

It is getting cold in Northumberland!

2009-11-09T05:40:00.000-08:00

As I think I've said before, my job is such that every day is different. I notice and am often delighted by very small and possibly insignificant things; today it was the ice from top of one of my clay processing buckets that caught my attention. It is getting cold and my tendency to work outdoors as much as possible will certainly be curtailed a little over the next few months. However cold it gets I can be certain that there I will always be surrounded by Beauty here in Northumberland. I am hoping that I can spend quite a lot of the time this winter making lots of replicas and constructing my new Roman Pottery teaching workshop. Watch this space to see if I succeed

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Experimental Archaeologist or Ancient Technology Specialist?

2009-09-26T01:20:00.000-07:00

Who should conduct experimental archaeological experiments; archaeologists or practitioners of the particular technology under investigation? As a potter I wouldn’t dream of stomping onto an ancient site, spade in hand, and starting digging unless I was under the strict guidance of someone who knew exactly what they were doing. However there does see to be a tendency for archaeologists to construct a replica kiln, fire it, without consulting anyone who might know how to fire the thing, and then writing up the results in a learned journal as if it meant something. I’m sorry if this sounds like sour grapes but:

It was with interest that I read the recent article in Current Archaeology ‘Experimental Archaeologists Build a 14th-Century Kiln’ (CA No.235, P.7). As a professional potter and, dare I say it, ‘experimental archaeologist’ (Maybe I need a new job title!) I am delighted to see archaeology students getting to grips with ancient technology and impressed by the well built kiln shown in the photographs. But .... somewhat astonished by the timber consumption of three tonnes which is reported. In illustration 3 (not shown here for copyright reasons) the fireboxes are shown completely choked with charcoal and ash, a situation which would certainly limit or prevent temperature rise. Unlike some other heat based technologies kilns require a little and often policy when it comes to stoking, regular removal of ash build up and strict control of air flow to encourage fast ignition of the fuel.

A clean burning firebox in my kiln at Segedunum

It is also quite apparent that the walls of the structure are remarkably low, not a problem in a clamp type tile kiln where the tiles are stacked within, and well above these ‘proto walls’ which are then extended upwards as temporary daub insulation. In the illustration the chamber is not even filled to the height of the walls making it a remarkably inefficient load; fully loaded kilns fire far more efficiently than half empty ones. The top of the tile pack is apparently not capped as it would have been, again with wasters and temporary insulation. All of these factors will adversely affect the firing of the kiln.

Temporary daub dome being removed from Segedunum Kiln

The fuel itself must be completely dry; long term, managed storage of timber is something that wood firing potters accept as part of the process. Finishing of firings would often involve the use of very fast combustibles such as dried gorse (hell on the hands but great for raising temperature).

The thing that has to be borne in mind is that the people who fired these kilns had almost certainly been doing it all their lives and had learned the skills from their parents and grandparents. I have been firing wood kilns all my potting life and still acknowledge that I have a lot to learn about the process.

If this was the first firing of this kiln its firing characteristics would have been quite different to those of subsequent firings There is a risk that calculations for large scale ceramic industries are based on experiments like this one, giving a very distorted view of fuel use, manpower requirements, land usage, etc., etc.

The Norton kiln could certainly be fired on a lot less timber. I regularly fire an experimental La Tène-derived, surface built, updraft kiln of turf and clay construction, and even though this is a Romano-British kiln the firing characteristics of which are similar to this type of kiln. Its chamber would happily accommodate something in the region of 200+ Medieval tiles and yet it uses less than 150kg of timber to reach 1000 degrees C over a period of 6 to 8 hours depending on weather conditions. That is only about 5% of the fuel consumption recorded for the Norton Kiln, even given kiln differences and a margin for error it's difficult to see how you'd get up to 3 tonnes.

I’m not saying don’t experiment, in fact I’d like to see much more experimentation. What I am saying is; if you experiment with ancient technologies seek out the best expertise you can find. I love working with archaeologists and by working together we can get great results that combine the best aspects of both disciplines.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Stibbington Potters Wheel - Stick or Kick?

2009-09-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

Fig.1

Fig.2

Fig.3

The case for classing this as a stick wheel:

Firstly I Note that radii drawn through the holes that I have marked as 1, 2, 3 on the image above (Fig.1), divide the wheel into three roughly equal segments, this would be a very sensible placing for stick holes. Furthermore holes 1 and 2 are shown in drawings, to be elliptical at the upper edge, and also appear to be so in the photograph in 'The Pottery Kilns of Roman Britain' Swan (1984), the long axes of these ellipses are at an angle of approximately 50 degrees to the radius of the wheel, descending left to right when the hole is at 12 o’clock on the wheel. The fracture of the stone at hole 3 has removed the upper surface but it too seems to exhibit an elliptical shape in approximately the same direction. When operating a stick wheel, the stick is inserted into one of the holes and force is exerted in the direction of spin, anticlockwise in the case of a right handed potter. Once the required speed is achieved the stick is withdrawn and the natural position for this to happen is when its hole is at approximately 2 o’clock, the stick is then naturally brought back to the right hand side of the potter. When the hole is at 2 o’clock the direction of drag will be approximately 50 degrees to the radius. As the stick leaves the hole it drags slightly on the trailing edge of the hole and over time this slight drag will cause the hole to wear into an ellipse. I note that some of the other holes also exhibit this same elliptical form. My own stick wheel (Fig.2) has started to exhibit exactly the same type of wear even though it has thus far made only a few hundred pots. Other, apparently random, holes may be the result of balancing, attachment to a frame, a prior existence as a mill wheel (quern), or additional stick holes when the original ones became too worn. The fact that small stones are jammed in two of the holes may be accidental but could, depending on the depth, be a device to prevent the stick sitting too deeply into the hole and becoming jammed or difficult to remove at high speed, once the holes had become excessively deepened through wear. The large central hole in the flywheel would readilly accomodate a raised wheelhead in the form of a solid log with a hole bored up the centre in which the fixed central shaft would pivot (Fig.4).

Fig.4

It is possible that the wheel has seen service as both a stick and a kick wheel. The worn band on the upper surface of the stone at approximately the midway point between the inner and outer rims corresponds almost exactly with the wear pattern that is developing on my own kick wheel (Fig.3). This type of wear could also develop from using the foot, or even a piece of wood, as a break, something that I do on a regular basis when using a stick wheel. A flywheel of this type could easily have provided the motive power for potters’ wheels for several generations and been required to serve different purposes for different masters. Equally it may have been used under different circumstances by the same potter. A stick wheel has several advantages over a kick wheel; not having a cumbersome frame it is inherently more portable suiting the purposes of an itinerant potter ideally; a far higher speed can be generated with a stick than can be achieved with the foot, making the production of fast, cheap ware far more attainable; its low wheel head is almost essential to the making of very large storage vessels or amphorae. The kick wheel on the other hand has the following advantages over the stick; being fixed in a frame makes it far more stable and therefore better suited to the production of finer wares such as Samian or Nene Valley colour coated wares; its setup allows for a seat and therefore much more comfortable working conditions

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

WELCOME TO THE WORLD!

2009-09-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

Just a very brief interuption to the flow of this blog to note the most joyous news that today I became a grandfather. TAAAAAARAAAAH!!

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Questions, Questions, Questions!!!

2009-09-02T00:46:00.000-07:00

Working at Museums, English Heritage Sites and the like, with a mixed audience of children and adults, I am constantly presented with new questions. Sometimes I have to confess that I simply don't know and I add the question to my ever growing list of things to find out!

Here I am demonstrating Roman Pottery as drawn by Katie

These are some of the more common questions and requests that I have had over the past few weeks while working as Gaivs the Potter (Yes I do dress up when needed!!):

Why do amphorae have pointed bases?
Where did amphorae come from and what did they carry?
How did the Romans make Samian Ware?
Can you show me how a Nene Valley hunt cup was decorated?
How did the Romans fire their pots?
Why do some Roman pots have faces on them?
How did the Romans use moulds to make their lamps?
What did a Roman potter’s wheel look like and how did they use it?
Can I have a go at making a moulded goddess figure?
Where did the clay come from?

These questions I can answer through a combined use of my handling collection, demonstration, hands-on activities. Other questions are not so easy to answer, some will require considerable research, some require experimental reconstruction of kilns and equipment and some will never be answered.

Some of these questions include:

Why didn't the Romans glaze many of their pots?
How long did a cooking pot last?
Why does the surface texture of Samian ware vary so much?
How hot did the Romans fire their pots?
How did the Romans package and transport their pots?

One thing I can be certain of is that; as long as I continue to engage with the public, and especially children, I will never be short of topics to research.

Someone kindly!? took a video of me working with moulds and entertaining a crowd at Corbridge the other day and has put it on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ9TDymSIvA (Don't laugh, you have to entertain to teach.)

Visit my ebsite at http://www.pottedhistory.co.uk/

HYPOCAUST HITS THE STREETS OF SKIPTON

2009-08-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

The hypocaust under construction

It’s amazing what you can end up making as an historical potter: Children from several Skipton schools had some fun recently, when they assisted me in the rather unusual task of constructing a half scale Roman Hypocaust, or central heating system, on the pavement outside the Craven Museum on Skipton High Street. I had made and fired all the necessary parts; nearly over two hundred pilaster bricks, seventy tubular box tiles and innumerable tessarae for the floor mosaic, over the preceding few weeks and the children helped with tasks such as brick laying the pillars which support the floor, setting the floor slabs in place, constructing the walls from tubular box tiles and creating the mosaic to surface the floor. By Friday afternoon the construction phase was complete the mosaic had been set in place and all was ready for the final phase, lighting the fire and making it work. The weather obliged with a steady downpour which made the task more difficult but set the wintry atmosphere in which a centrally heated villa might seem right at home.

As the small charcoal fire beneath the floor crackled into life, the box flues drew the warm air up into the walls and modern temperature sensors recorded the steady rise in temperature above the floor seeing it soar to 120 degrees F, almost 50 degrees C. The model was so successful it has now been moved into the museum where it takes pride of place next to the architectural ceramic finds from the Kirk Sink Villa at Gargrave where it is helping to explain the function of the various artefacts.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

SUPERSIZERS FIND ROMAN POTS IN NORTHUMBERLAND

2009-08-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

It's a bit of a cheat but I'm simply going to post the essence of the article that was published in the local paper regarding this topic. The pot was well featured in the programme and looked the part:

When the researcher for BBC2’s “Supersizers Eat... Roman” was looking for a specialist piece of Roman pottery to use in the programme, she knew exactly who to contact- historic potter and experimental archaeologist Graham Taylor.

Stepping into Graham Taylor’s Rothbury workshop is like a form of time travel. Neolithic urns, Bronze Age beakers, Roman amphorae and orange samian ware, sit next to jackal eared Egyptian canopic jars and medieval jugs. It’s like a cross between a museum store room and a bizarre film set. But this is the home of “Potted History”, where national museums, film makers, theatrical companies and TV production companies are coming to commission historically accurate replicas of pots.

“Most of the time I recreate items for museum handling collections- so that members of the public and schoolchildren can handle items exactly like the ones they can see in the museum display cases. But I also make pieces for archaeologists to “test to destruction” by cooking in them- using authentic historical recipes.”

“I was delighted to be able to supply ”Supersizers” a mortarium- the Roman equivalent of the food processor, as I’d enjoyed watching food critic Giles Coran and presenter Sue Perkins eat their way through various eras in the earlier series of the programme. When I heard that they were doing Roman food, I realised that it would be a big challenge for them. The Romans ate some things that we would recognise today- like bread and various meat dishes, but they also loved a fermented fish sauce known as garum or liquamen, which they exported right round the Empire in specially labelled amphorae and even added to sweet dishes. The mortarium was a vital piece of equipment in a Roman kitchen as it was used to do everything from making pesto type sauces from herbs, to grinding up meat for sausages and pates.

There’s something very special about sending a Roman replica pot off to Rome itself to be filmed in use. Apparently the Roman chef on “Supersizers” enjoyed using it so much that she became quite attached to it. But I don’t think that Sue Perkins was quite as keen! On being asked what her least favourite dish had been for the entire series she said that the Roman meal had featured three of the most awful things she’d ever eaten: a cow’s udder pâté, duck’s tongue and a pig’s womb stir-fry. So we may not be getting any delicious recipe tips from the programme, but it does sound like excellent viewing.”

Supersizers Eat Roman is scheduled to be the final episode of the new series of 6 programmes on Mondays, on BBC2 at 9pm.
In the meantime you can see examples of mortaria, liquamen amphorae and other Roman style pottery online at http://www.pottedhistory.co.uk/ or on display and for sale at Crown Studio Gallery, Bridge Street Rothbury.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Canopic Jars and Standing Stones

2009-04-01T14:30:00.001-07:00

Wednesday is our day off so I only unpacked a kiln before setting of on an archaeological visit, a set of canopic jars that I've made for Leicester Museum and need to be sent soon.

The visit was to the fabulous stone circle ar Duddo in Northumberland, if you haven't been there go, if you have been there go again. We absolutely loved the place, set on a small rise in the gently undulating landscape of north Northumberland this circle commands fantastic views of the Cheviots and across into Scotland to the Eildon Hills, both important prehistoric landscapes in their own right. The stones themselves are deeply grooved by millenia of water erosion a feature the has, in the past moved me to create sculptural pots (see below) but they don't even come close to the beauty of the real thing.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Back to the Wheel

2009-03-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

Ok so I started in January with the enthusiasm of the newly converted and then............................ well I guess that the work got in the way!! Since me last entry I have been delivering Roman, Saxon and Greek pottery workshops in schools, making all manner of pots for handling collections, demonstrating Roman Pottery at Vindolanda, running a Prehistoric Pottery Workshop for adults at the Yorkshire Museum and desperately trying to get my workshop tidied up and sorted out!

The greatest highlight of the last few weeks though, has been the marriage, last week of my eldest daughter Ali and her man Charlie................Hurraaahhhh!!!!

Anyway that said, let's stick to pottery matters here with a few pictures of what I've been doing:

The Saxon Urn got fired and finished

.............As did the Gefrin pots.

and the Roman pots for Nottingham. More updates soon.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

The job isn't finished till the paperwork's done!

2009-01-19T06:03:00.000-08:00

I have just finished putting together my accounts for the Tax Man, I have great empathy with Vimes from Terry Pratchett's novel "Thud!"; "Vimes fretted through the afternoon. There was, of course, the paperwork. There was always the paperwork. The trays were only the start. .................... Vimes had got around to a Clean Desk policy. It was a clean floor that eluded him at the moment."

Anyway, the paperwork is clearing a little and it means that I can get on with the pots and the first has been the large Anglo-Saxon pot from Gefrin. So here's one I made earlier!

Visit my website at http://www.pottedhistory.co.uk/

Conversations With Pots

2009-01-14T15:20:00.000-08:00

When I handle an ancient pot it’s a little like shaking hands with the original potter; a handshake across thousands of years. I can feel the impressions made by their thumbs, the pressure of their fingers pushing the wet clay into the palm of the hand to swell out the belly of the pot, the sweep of a tool to decorate the surface. All of these movements are like frozen, or possibly more correctly, fired moments in time, preserved and waiting for me to decode. When I come to emulate their actions and re-create one of these prehistoric masterpieces, I get to know the potter a little better. A conversation takes place … “Oh I see why you did that” ….”What did you use to make that mark?”.........”Now that’s clever, decorating it like that”. The conversation may seem a little one sided but the answers come back to me from the clay. Above all the act of making a piece gives me a deep sense of respect for a fellow craftsperson.

Learning how the pots were made, how they were fired and how they were used, also tells me a little about the way these people live. People very much like us; some with time to lavish on the careful decoration of a prized possession; some making a utilitarian vessel which will fill the needs of the next few days while in a seasonal hunting camp; some making a final gift for a loved one to take into the “After Life”. I am moved by the simple rustic beauty of these pieces, but they connect me with the ancient inhabitants of this valley and these hills in a way that transcends mere aesthetics.

Visit my website at http://www.pottedhistory.co.uk/

This month I'll be mostly making Saxon Pots

2009-01-04T05:50:00.000-08:00

OK it's New Year and I have a mountain of Pots to make . To add to the Nottingham Pots and Samian Ware for another museum The Gefrin Trust have commissioned me to make replicas of pots from Brian Hope-Taylor's excavations at the Anglian Royal Palace of Gefrin and the Iron Age Hill fort of Yeavering. This will also include earlier pots from the site including a rather fine early Neolithic Carinated Bowl. These pots will form part of an exhibition "AD GEFRIN: PALACE OF THE KINGS OF NORTHUMBRIA" which opens on 14 February and runs till 29 March 2009 at the Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology, The Banks, Durham. Further Enquiries 0191 334 1823 Archaeology.Museum@durham.ac.uk

And last but by no means least, I am really touched and honoured to say that I have been commissioned to make a replica Saxon urn as the final resting place of the cremated remains of an archaeologist.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Replica Pots for Christmas....what else?

2008-12-29T17:49:00.000-08:00

I am guessing that all the people who ordered from me, replica pots for their loved ones, will by now have given them so that I can now reveal a couple of my favourites. Firstly I there's this replica of a Bronze Age food vessel excavated from the Bawearie Cairns at Old Bewick, Northumberland, by Canon William Greenwell in 1866, which I made for one of the Archaeologists involved in the More recent excavations of the same cairns. The original pot is in the British Museum.

Then there is this replica of a Neolithic, Mortlake Bowl made for another Archaeologist:

This one is decorated using a whipped cord tool to produce what are known as "maggot marks". Both have been open fired in a "bonfire" firing just as their archetypes would have been.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Mediaeval Pottery Kiln at Shotton

2008-12-23T08:31:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I was invited to visit the archaeological excavation of a pottery production site at Shotton, to the north of Newcastle upon Tyne. This site is sceduled for surface coal extraction by Banks Development and has been excaveted in advance of this by Tyne and Wear Museums. What they have found is a small medieval settlement with evidence of pottery production including a kiln and clay extraction pits. The whole site is on solid clay a fact that has made the conditions in the trenches less than pleasant. As you can see in this photograph of the kiln mud and ice were the order of the day but they were kind enough to remove the ice and pump out the water so that I could inspect it. These conditions suggest that some of the post holes around the kiln must surely have been supports for a roof, otherwise the kiln would have been inoperable during most of the year.

I have taken clay samples from the site with the intention of firing them under an assortment of different firing conditions so that they can be compared with the potsherds from the excavation.

Roman Replicas for Nottingham University

2008-12-21T14:22:00.000-08:00

Over the next few weeks I will be making a collection of Replica Roman Pottery for the Archaeology Museum at the University of Nottingham. Most of the pieces will be from the Margidunum site Excavated by Felix Oswald. This will include head pots, mortaria, goddess figures, cooking pots, Samian ware and much more. Various different types of firing will be involved from fully oxidised red wares through greyware to heavy reduction for the blackwares.

A great little head pot from Margidunum.

One of the things that I love about working on a project like this is the opportunity to handle the original aretefacts and in doing so to place my hands in the impressions left by a fellow potter thousands of years ago. In the picture below you can actually see his/her fingerprints.

Watch this blog for more information on this project.

Roman Pottery at Newcastle YAC

2008-12-20T15:53:00.000-08:00

I spent today working with a great group of young people at the Newcastle branch of the Young Archaeologists' Club (YAC). The theme for todays meeting was the Romans, so we looked at various pieces from my handling collection of replicas and then I gave them a demonstration of throwing on a stick wheel. These youngsters showed a great deal of enthusiasm and posed some very intelligent questions. The participants then each made a small moulded Roman figure to take home before indulging in a fantastic Roman Feast (Great food!). Dr Jane Webster of Newcastle University and Dr Rob Young of English Heritage who run this YAC group along with a few helpers are obviousl doing a great job, long may it continue. Thanks for inviting me and I hope that you'll invite me back sometime soon.
Throwing on the stick wheel (photo by Ken Lister)

Prehistoric firing

2008-12-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

Last week you'd have found me bent over a small fire in the corner of a Northumbrian field, replicating the firing techniques of the Neolithic in order to complete several commissions before Christmas. I've had several orders this year from the partners of archaeologists wanting replicas of pieces that their loved ones had been instrumental in excavating or that had come from Archaeological site in which they had an interest. So several new beakers, food vessels, Mortlake and Fengate bowls have come into existence thousands of years after the originals upon which they were based.