Onto the wheel

Let’s start at the bottom. The bottom is flat, so the jar can stand upright. There is also another reason for this: the bottom is where a wetted ball of clay was attached to the potter’s wheel. The wheel saw many varieties of clay with different quality standards and different colors. This clay turned out yellow, while others resulted in a red-colored vase or in a more purple or even white color.

When the wet clay is set to the wheel, the skilled potter would then put the wheel into motion, rotating it round and round, until the potter’s hands had shaped the clay as intended. The body of this jar could be made all at once, whereas larger specimens were made from several independently manufactured pieces. Water was used to form the clay to the potter’s liking. For more info, see Lewis 1983, The Manufacture of Early Mycenaean Pottery (Dissertation, University of Minnesota), 20-25; Boardman 1998, Early Greek Vase Painting. 11th-6th centuries BC: A Handbook, London, 11. For more information on the manufacturing of the smaller pieces, see Berg 2013, ‘The Potter’s Wheel in Mycenaean Greece: A Reassessment’, in: Giampaolo Graziadio et al (eds.), Φιλική Συναυλία Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology for Mario Benzi , Oxford, 113-121; Lewis 1983, The Manufacture of Early Mycenaean Pottery (Dissertation, University of Minnesota), 36-37] These techniques had been around for a long time before the Mycenaeans adopted them from the Minoans (Fig. 1).

Once the vessel was formed to the potter’s satisfaction, it was time to cut it loose from the wheel with the help of wire, string, or a knife. Now that we are loose, let us move to the top. Giddyup!