WHAT IS THE MORTLAKE WARE?

A family of elaborately decorated Neolithic ceramics found in southern and eastern parts of the British Isles. Dating to the period 3000–2000 bc, Isobel Smith divided Peterborough wares into three successive styles – Ebbsfleet, Mortlake, and Fengate – on the basis of their occurrence in the ditch fills at Windmill Hill. It is now recognized that these three groups overlap rather more than originally thought, and that they are best seen as part of the broad group of impressed wares found over much of northern Europe in the 3rd millennium bc. The decoration on Peterborough ware consists of pits, “maggot impressions” made by impressing tightly rolled cord, and the impressions made by pressing the ends of bird bones into the soft clay before firing. Some of the later vessels are the first in Britain to be made with flat bases. [Peterborough ware]

WHAT IS THE MINYAN WARE?

A distinctive Middle Helladic pottery – a gray or yellow wheelmade ware of high quality first appearing at Troy VI and in Greece c. 19th century bc. It was the first wheelmade pottery to be produced in Middle Bronze Age Greece. It was ancestral to Mycenaean pottery, and may represent a movement of new peoples into the Aegean area, the first Greek speakers. Traditionally it has been associated with an apparently violent end to the Early Helladic culture, c. 2000–1900 bc, and the arrival of Greek-speaking peoples in the Aegean. The term was coined by Heinrich Schliemann. The ware had a soap-like feeling and its forms were modeled after metal objects.

WHAT IS THE MATT-PAINTED POTTERY?

Middle Helladic pottery with simple decoration in manganese-based purple-black paint on a pale ground. Matt-painted pottery has been found in the nearer islands to mainland Greece and even as far as Crete and the Anatolian coast.

WHAT IS THE LEKYTHOS?

In ancient Greece, a pottery oil flask used at baths and gymnasiums and for funerary offerings. The flask has a long, cylindrical body gracefully tapered to the base, and a narrow neck with a single loop-shaped handle. The body was often covered with white slip and then painted in polychrome.

WHAT IS THE KRATER?

Ancient Greek vessel used for diluting wine with water. It usually stood on a tripod in the dining room, where wine was mixed. Kraters were made of metal or pottery and were often painted or elaborately ornamented. In Homer’s Iliad the prize offered by Achilles for the foot race at Patroclus’ funeral games was a silver krater. The Greek historian Herodotus describes many enormous and costly kraters dedicated at temples or used in religious ceremonies. Kraters are large, with a broad body and base and usually a wide mouth. They may have horizontal handles placed near the base, or vertical handles rising from the shoulder. Among the many variations are: the bell krater, confined to red-figure pottery, shaped like an inverted bell, with loop handles and a disk foot; the volute krater, with an egg-shaped body and handles that rise from the shoulder and curl in a volute (scrollshaped form) well above the rim; the calyx krater, the shape of which spreads out like the cup or calyx of a flower; and the column krater, with columnar handles rising from the shoulder to a flat, projecting lip rim. Some were fitted with a strainer.

WHAT IS THE IMPASTO?

1. A type of early pottery of Etruria, made from unrefined clay and fired to a dark brown or black, especially during the Villanovan period. Some pieces were biconical urns and hut models and were used for cremations. 2. A paint that is applied to a canvas or panel in quantities that make it stand out from the surface. It was used frequently to mimic the broken-textured quality of highlights – i.e., the surfaces of objects that are struck by an intense light.

WHAT IS THE HISPANO MORESQUE POTTERY?

A tin-glazed, lustrous, highly decorated earthenware made by Moorish potters in Spain in the late medieval period, chiefly at Málaga in the 15th century, and in the region of Manises, near Valencia, in the 16th century. The pottery tends to be plates and jugs with bold, semiabstract designs painted on a creamy background and with a gold luster finish. These wares were much in demand throughout Europe and, judging from finds in northern Europe, they were widely traded. The tin glaze was applied over a design usually traced in cobalt blue; after the first firing, the luster, a metallic pigment, was applied by brush over the tin glaze, and the piece was fired again. Imitation of this pottery in Italy led to the development of Italian majolica ware.

WHAT IS THE HEMBURY WARE?

A type of plain Early and Middle Neolithic pottery found in southwestern England in the 4th millennium bc, characterized by round-bottomed vessels with straight sides or S-profiled bodies.

WHAT IS THE FINE ORANGE POTTERY ?

A high-quality orange ware, often decorated with incised, molded, or black-painted patterns; a late Classic (and post- Classic) pottery type of the lowland Maya area of Mesoamerica. Found at sites under the influence of Teotihuacán, it comes from the Tabasco- Campeche region (Usumacinta drainage). [Fine Orange ware]

WHAT IS THE FIKELLURA WARE ?

an Archaic east Greek black-figure pottery style. It has been found in the Fikellura cemetery on Rhodes; the source of the clay was Miletus.

WHAT IS THE FIBER-TEMPERED POTTERY

Any clay pottery to which grass or root fibers have been added as a tempering material. This ware is the earliest pottery in Caribbean South America and is the oldest pottery in the United States, making its appearance in Archaic shell mounds in Georgia and Florida before 2500 bc. [fiber tempering]

WHAT IS THE FENGATE WARE ?

A family of elaborately decorated Neolithic ceramics found in southern and eastern parts of the British Isles. Dating to the period 3000–2000 bc, Isobel Smith divided Peterborough wares into three successive styles – Ebbsfleet, Mortlake, and Fengate – on the basis of their occurrence in the ditch fills at Windmill Hill. It is now recognized that these three groups overlap rather more than originally thought, and that they are best seen as part of the broad group of impressed wares found over much of northern Europe in the 3rd millennium bc. The decoration on Peterborough ware consists of pits, “maggot impressions” made by impressing tightly rolled cord, and the impressions made by pressing the ends of bird bones into the soft clay before firing. Some of the later vessels are the first in Britain to be made with flat bases. [Peterborough ware]

WHAT IS THE DEPAS ?

Homeric term that Schliemann used to describe the two-handled cups which he found in Early Bronze Age contexts at Troy. [depas amphikypellon]

WHAT IS THE CRAMBECK WARE ?

CRAMBECK WARE: A type of pottery that was widely distributed across the north of England and North Wales in the second half of the 4th century ad, including cream-colored mortaria and parchment wares, imitation Samian forms, and gray kitchen wares.

WHAT IS THE CORINTHIAN POTTERY ?

CORINTHIAN POTTERY: A widely distributed pottery made at Corinth and found throughout the Mediterranean, from the late 7th century bc until the mid 6th century bc. This important stage of vase painting included “naturalistic” designs of animals, maenads, and satyrs and the invention of the black-figure technique and some new shapes, such as the aryballos and alabastron. Proto-Corinthian pottery, most of which is miniature in size, was the first to be decorated in the black-figure painting technique – figure silhouettes drawn in black and filled in with incised details.

WHAT IS THE CORDENED URN ?

CORDENED URN: A type of Middle Bronze Age pottery in the northern parts of the British Isles during the 2nd millennium bc, generally tall straightsided vessels with a flat base, slightly flaring body and a simple rim. The outer face is decorated with applied cordons ornamented with incised decoration.

WHAT IS THE COARSEWARE ?

COARSEWARE: A classification of sandy, rough pottery including Castor ware, New Forest ware, and Rustic ware. [coarse pottery, coarse ware]

WHAT IS THE CHANNEL RIMMED JAR ?

CHANNEL RIMMED JAR: A type of cooking pot with an out-turned rim with one or more distinct grooves on it, mid to late 1st century in Roman times in Britain.

WHAT IS THE CHALCIDIAN WARE ?

 Chalcidian black figure amphora

CHALCIDIAN WARE: Black-figured pottery found in Etruria and the Chalcidian colony of Rhegium (modern Reggio) in Italy. The style included lettering of the inscriptions as part of the decoration.

WHAT IS THE CHAFING DISH ?

CHAFING DISH: A cooking pot with an outer pan of hot water, used for keeping food warm.