Potted History On Screen

In terms of media work, it's been a busy couple of years and I'll be linking to a few of the resulting videos in the coming months, this one was made for English Heritage, Stonehenge, for whom you may recall from earlier posts, I made the replica Grooved Ware and Beaker pottery displayed in the Stonehenge Visitor Centre Museum and in the replica Neolithic Houses. This obviously shows a very much speeded-up version of the creation of a Neolithic Grooved Ware pot, but it does give an idea of the processes involved. Early in 2019 I'll be starting a subscription Vlog in which I'll produce monthly lecture/demo videos taking you through all aspects of Prehistoric Pottery making. I'll go into detail on everything from the selection and preparation of materials, the making and use of authentic tools, forming and decorating many different types of Neolithic, Bronze-Age and Iron Age pottery and the firing process. If you'd be interested to hear more about this, or keep informed about forthcoming workshops and replicas, sign up to my Mailing List. Or to book onto one of my one day workshops have a look at our website Potted-History.co.uk  

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

Greek Pottery Workshops at Wolfson College Oxford

Here are some photographs from my recent Greek Pottery Technology workshop at Wolfson College Oxford, in which participants not only learned about the ceramic science behind the creation of Black and Red Figure wares, but also had the opportunity to try their hand at a Greek style momentum wheel and created their own Rhyton.

 

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ONE DAY, HANDS-ON, POTTERY WORKSHOPS FOR KS2 & KS3 SCHOOLS

Teachers, if you want a workshop for your class that combines a history lesson, with the opportunity for every child to develop their creativity while making their own replica pottery artefact, then you need one of my workshops.

POTTED HISTORY – GRAHAM TAYLOR

ONE DAY, HANDS-ON, POTTERY WORKSHOPS FOR KS2 & KS3 SCHOOLS

ROMAN, ANGLO-SAXON, TUDOR, GREEK, EGYPTIAN, BRONZE-AGE, VICTORIAN and more

These workshops combine an art and craft activity with history and are a cost effective, real alternative to a field trip; I bring a living museum to you.  I present all workshops in period costume, using tools and equipment appropriate to the era.  The day begins working with the whole class using my extensive “Portable Museum” handling collection, which acts as a springboard to talk about many aspects of life in the period.  While many subjects are covered in an informative and sometimes humorous way, these are always pitched at a level appropriate to the age group, clear but never patronising.  I will demonstrate the ways in which the pots were made, which for all except the Bronze-Age workshop, involves throwing a pot on an ancient potters wheel, proven to mesmerise the most boisterous class.  Every workshop has a hands-on element allowing the children to express their creativity, while engaging in an activity that involves real technology from the period.  By the end of the day the children will have gained considerable additional information about the historical era covered and will have produced their own replica artefact to keep.

Other activities that can, on request, form part include Archaeological Challenges, which encourage the children to look closely at artefacts and discover the stories that they can tell us about the people of the past.

The knowledge and skills gained through these activities will equip the children to better appreciate what they see when the next visit a museum, and help them to understand that a potsherd isn't just a "bit of broken pot", it's a piece of the jigsaw of the past and a part of someone’s life.

The structure of the day would normally run as follows but can be tailored to your school day: 9am to break, handling collection and demonstration session with the entire class: After break the class is divided into two or three groups of 10 to 15 children, I work with one group before lunch and two groups after lunch, for approx. 40 minutes to 1 hour each, to complete the hands-on activity.  If time allows there will be a question and answer session at the end of the day, which can be planned to include parents if required.

Hands-on projects are as follows:

Egyptian:        Canopic Jar made from pre prepared pot or Shabti figure mould made

Greek:            Rhyton (Animal head drinking cup) from pre prepared pot

Prehistoric:    Hand built Neolithic bowl and animal/deity figure

Roman:           Roman Head Pot from pre prepared pot

Anglo Saxon: Hand decorated Saxon urn from pre prepared pot

Mediaeval:     Knight Jug from pre prepared pot or a Mediaeval encaustic tile

Tudor:            Bellarmine jar made from pre prepared pot

Civil War:       Slipware Plate/bowl made from pre prepared pot

Victorian:        Painted Plate made from pre prepared pot

The following give an idea of the structure of the day:

ROMAN

The Handling Collection includes:  Amphorae, Samian Ware, Barbotine ware, lamps, deity figurines, greyware, cooking pots, head pots, mortaria, altars, incense burners, votives, etc..

Which are used to lead a lesson covering:  Trade & produce, the empire, transport, the Roman army, Hadrian’s Wall, the gods, Roman Crafts, domestic life and much more.

The Hands-On Activity:  The children will make Head Pots, representations of gods on pots;  I will bring along one pre prepared soft clay vessel for each child, the children will then model these to represent a face.  At the end of the day the pots will be taken back to my studio, dried and fired to make them permanent.  Once they are returned to the school, usually after three to four weeks, they can be painted.  

Alternative Activities:  Making a Roman Altar or Making a Roman Samian Bowl (Useful if a quicker workshop is required)

GREEK

The Handling Collection includes:  Amphorae, Rhytons, Aryballos, Ostraka, Attic Wares, Votives, Military paintings, Deity Figures, Athlete Figures, Toys, Lamps, etc..

Which are used to lead a lesson covering:  Trade & produce, the arts, the Greek & Spartan armies, the navy, Olympics & athletics, democracy, domestic life and much more.

The Hands-On Activity:  The children will make Rhytons, animal headed drinking vessels;  I will bring along one pre prepared soft clay vessel for each child, the children will then model these to represent their own chosen animal, a handle will be applied.  At the end of the day the pots will be taken back to my studio, dried and fired to make them permanent.  Once they are returned to the school, usually after three to four weeks, they can be painted.  

Alternative Activities:  Aryballos making an animal shaped perfume bottle or Attic Bowl Painting on a pre prepared and fired Greek bowl.

Much larger projects can be designed and delivered, if you have any ideas for projects large or small please contact me.

Visit my website at www.pottedhistory.co.uk

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 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

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 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

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.  

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Ancient Firing Technology

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

Workshop Nearly Ready

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/