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, 5 August 2018

The Writing Is On The Pots

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I always say that I have a constant stream of new commissions that keeps me on my toes, often sending me off to my library to research a new...

Sunday, 4 March 2018

Fragments: The Peregrini Lindisfarne Landscape Project

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One of the biggest projects that I've been involved with this year, saw me returning to my roots as a craft/artist potter, bu...

Friday, 2 June 2017

Firing The Vindolanda Kiln

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On May 31st I, with the help of two of the stalwart Vindolanda volunteers, fired the newly built replica Roman pottery kiln at the Vindoland...

Friday, 12 May 2017

Skara Brae Neolithic Pottery Demonstrations

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At Easter 2017 you'd have found me absolutely in my element, working for Historic Environment Scotland, at Skara Brae, the amazingly we...

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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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