Graham's Potted History

I'm a potter and experimental archaeologist, that means that I create replicas of ancient pots, make reconstructions of ancient kilns, firings, workshops etc. This blog is a journal of some of my recent work. All text and images are copyright if you wish to use them please ask.

Wednesday, 4 May 2011

NAAFI Mugs for Dover Castle

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 cla...

Tuesday, 3 May 2011

Bamburgh Castle and the Laidley Worm

Completed at last, the series of interactive panels for Bamburgh Castle, upon which I have been working for some months. They illustrate th...

Saturday, 9 April 2011

Beaker Firing

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...

Thursday, 31 March 2011

Bronze-Age Pottery Workshops at Cairnpapple Scotland

I'll be running Bronze-Age pottery workshops at Historic Scotland's fantastic Prehistoric site at Cairnpapple , Beecraigs and Bathga...

Wednesday, 30 March 2011

Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon Pottery Workshop

The Anglo-Saxon pottery workshop which I ran at Sutton Hoo on Sunday 27th March 2011 produced some great results. A small but dedicated gro...

Saturday, 22 January 2011

The Eagles Have Landed

I've been working with a group of students from Burnside College in Wallsend to create a piece of sculpture relating to trade throughou...

Tuesday, 11 January 2011

Wonderful Flint Tools

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 an...

Sunday, 2 January 2011

From Ancient Egypt to English Country Slipware

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 wo...

Saturday, 27 November 2010

Kiln Floor in Production

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 ...

Prehistoric Pottery Disposal Experiment

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 cou...

Saturday, 6 November 2010

Roman Pottery Kiln Progress

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

Roman Sunken Kiln Under Construction

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 c...

Sunday, 4 July 2010

Making Medieval

I'll be at Rievaulx Abbey Saturday and Sunday 10th and 11th July demonstrating Mediaeval potting methods so I'm making some addition...

Friday, 2 July 2010

Zeus figures now available

Working on ceramic figures of Zeus for Tyne & Wear Museums today Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Monday, 21 June 2010

The Team at Making the Bronze Age

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

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

Back in my own w or kshop, in Rothbury, N or thumberland, after a weekend as part of a re-enactment event on the banks of the beautiful Tay ...

Sunday, 13 June 2010

Bronze Age Pots for Perth

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

Friday, 28 May 2010

Slipware Wedding Plate

Successfully completed the wedding plate commission, in the tradition of Thomas Toft. www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

Ancient Firing Technology

Most books one reads talk about 'bonfire firing'; fast open firings using large quantities of wood and accepting a quite high percen...

Tuesday, 25 May 2010

National Towel Day

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....

Monday, 24 May 2010

The Joy of Field Walking

Field walking with Coquetdale Community Archaeologytoday, in the Coquet Valley today over a field where the local farmer has been finding l...

Tuesday, 18 May 2010

Huge Canopic Jars Completed

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...

Monday, 17 May 2010

Charlie Brooker, Museums, Pots and Boredom

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 F...

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About Me

pottedhistory: Rothbury, Northumberland, United Kingdom; 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.

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