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.

Sunday, 4 December 2011

Making Bad Replicas??

›
The pots that I find most difficult to replicate are ones that have been made with little aesthetic consideration and only the bare minimum ...
1 comment:
Sunday, 20 November 2011

Replicas as Christmas Gifts

›
Over the past few weeks I’ve been w or king on a number of different replicas including Neolithic Carinated Bowls & Unstan Bowls, Bronze...
Saturday, 5 November 2011

Roman Hunt Cups

›
I've been turning and finishing the Hunt Cups today and now they're in my workshop drying. Visit my website at www.pottedhistory...
1 comment:
Thursday, 3 November 2011

›
I'm working on stock for my trip to TORM (The Original Re-enactors' Market) next week, so today I've been making Roman barbotin...
Tuesday, 19 July 2011

The Eagles Have Landed Installation at Tullie House Carlisle

›
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 chronolo...
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...
1 comment:
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...
4 comments:
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...
2 comments:
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...
1 comment:
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 ...
1 comment:

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 ...
2 comments:

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...
1 comment:
‹
›
Home
View web version

About Me

My photo
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.
View my complete profile
Powered by Blogger.