Name: Lissa Underhill
Location: Hartshorn-dale
East Kingdom Wiki: https://wiki.eastkingdom.org/wiki/Elysabeth_Underhill
Category: Ceramics
Historical Photo: https://x.com/FitzMuseum_UK/status/1648643887827759106
A photo of red, black and white cups has been floating around on social media for the past few years. These cups are thousands of years old but also appear strangely modern in design in some ways. After seeing these cups, how could I not want to try to recreate them!
These cups are called Kamares Ware, and are from the Middle Minoan period (1800-1700 BCE). These were primarily produced in Minoan palace locations on Crete for domestic use. These cups are high quality, thin, wheel made pottery. Decorated in multiple colors (polychrome) with variations of red/orange colors and white, on a dark colored slip. Historically the paints were made with minerals (iron oxide, etc.). For my project I used modern Stroke and Coat glaze because my focus was on learning how to paint.
Floral and faunal motifs start to appear in Minoan painting for the first time at this period, as well a complex figurative and geometric designs that break from earlier linear designs. The designs are inventive and some are very complex
My goal with this project was to learn how to pain on pottery and practice painting so I could start to recreate some of these pieces. I began by viewing books on tutorials on folk painting/one stroke painting, and by doing lots of painting drills. This helped me learn some of the basics. Some items are recreated exactly, with others I took Minoan design motifs and applied them to the pottery.
Additional Photos: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WXljyCi-xKs3JPLAZ6Lmq58OPoMH9I9JVZIMgNbn7D0/edit?usp=sharing
More Information: https://www.britannica.com/art/Kamares-ware
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