The Gold Of The Bronze Style

Pottery can not only tell us about the past, but it can also tell us about people’s beliefs and what people did in the past. Pottery was used for many purposes. It was made in many different shapes and sizes. Some pieces of pottery had unique pictures and designs on them. The pictures and designs expressed different types of things that went on in the daily lives of ancient Greeks. Music and entertainment, religious beliefs, death and burial traditions are a few aspects of Greek life that are pictured on many different types of ancient Greek pottery.

The Beaker with Ibex Motifs is a prehistoric pottery art work, found in near-perfect condition during a 1906-1908 excavation of a Susian necropolis in Susa, Iran. The Beaker with Ibex Motifs is a large vessel with dimensions at 28.90 x 16.40 cm. Used by the first inhabitants of Susa, this beaker is a the first example of a funerary item. The identity of artist is unknown, however, it is thought the beaker was created sometime between 4200 and 3500 B.C.E.

This vase could have been used as a container for water or wine and perhaps as a drinking vessel.

The culture of the Bronze Age in China, was mainly ritual oriented. As a result, iconography was used in various objects, such as guangs, or wine pourers. Guangs from the Shang dynasty, often depicted images of various animals and environments. One such guang was composed during the Shang dynasty. Its bronze cast symbolized power and wealth in ancient China. The structure is that if many different animals.

Also serve wine during ancestor worship rituals in which the wine vapors were to be consumed by the deceased spirits. Each vessels shaped matched it's intended purpose. The guang also has a neck and head, which serve as the pouring channel for the wine. Guang bronze vessels were used not only in life to honor the deceased, but also at times placed with the deceased in their grave. The ritual vessels are also useful to the living as well. They are both everyday functioning items, but also objects which serve religious and spiritual purposes. The multiple designs around the guang also show form. Their fields of background spirals integrate so closely with the form of the guang. The guang have a unique

A lekythos (plural: lekythoi) is a container for oil, ointments, and were sometimes used as offerings for the dead (Folsom, Handbook of Greek Pottery, 175). How did this object come to be? A potter must start with an idea. The shape of the object was good for the careful pouring required when dealing with oil. In starting to fashion this idea, the potter first must grab a large ball of clay and lift up the edges to make the body. Next, the potter places the clay on a pottery wheel and, using various tools, the potter is able to scrape the base and other areas in order to add ridges. The neck is created through a small ball of clay that’s then ripped apart to form a hollow neck and mouth at the top. The potter will flatten the rim and turn the neck to get rid of excess clay. Next, the potter will attach the neck to an open hole on top of t the body. He will then use a sort of place-holder in order to make sure it is applied straight-on. Lastly, the handle will be added. The potter will elongate a pear-shaped piece of clay into a handle with a

Shang bronzes motifs varies from animal figures with recognizable real-life model to stylized animal figures stem from legend and myths. The meaning of those bronze motifs has long been seen as one of the major enigmas existed in the realm of ancient China studies. From as early as the Song Dynasty, antiquarians and scholars have been devoted to decode and analyze the potential functions of Shang bronze decor.

These clay statuettes were from the Tang Dynasty era and compromised at once a comedile humane of the cultured life of the Tang period. A diversified and endlessly appealing exhibition of sculptures, which was a result of an artistic impulse carried over into religious and spiritual reverences or reverie. This sculpture is an expansion of a lighter mood of love, grace, and of playfulness. The statuettes were usually fully colored. They were also commonly glazed, although the glaze may have been left off at certain points of the clay, where directly applied pigment gave better detail and effects to the sculpture. Because these statues are glazed most of them are removed from the history of sculpture and placed with the books on pottery. Many of the statues, however, are starting to end up in different museums across the world for the people to view and admire the artwork of the ancient Chinese civilizations

Throughout Chinese history, many dynasties have existed with different practices and aesthetics. This diversity can be seen through ritual bronzes and other good discovered in graves or tombs throughout China. These excavations have revealed Chinese history and the influence of foreign countries in culture, religion, and architecture. Such excavations also reveal how the significance of such objects in Chinese life changed throughout the different dynasties. For example, bronzes and inscriptions which belonged to families and royals from the early Xia dynasty were valued as a status of power, represented China and were used for rituals, but during the Qin and Han dynasty, such bronzes became valued as aesthetic objects.

It was amazing to experience the excitement of ceramics art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art and seeing the eyes of people who were staring at the ergonomically well designed Jomon pot that looked very difficult to design by hand. The size of the Jomon pottery was 22 inches in height and is nearly equivalent to a fish bucket and the shape of the Jomon was a wide cylinder that looked like it could store lots of amount of water and fish. The Jomon had a combination with variety types of clay that were shadow and tint colors. The following date this Jomon pot was created was during the middle age of the Jomon Culture which was (c. 3000-2000 B.C.). The artist that created this Jomon pot was named Hamada Shoji and the

This jaguar bowl offers a superb example of Maya ceramic art from the Classic period. Representative in form, style, and motif, this wildly elegant piece was found in a temple tomb of Early Classic date. Other pieces of this variety were also used as serving dishes in aristocratic households. G.W. (Willey)

Over time, the Shang transitioned from a nomadic people to an agricultural civilization. They were also skilled workers with jade, bone, ceramics, stone, wood, and bronze. In terms of religion, the Shang placed great importance on the afterlife and the welfare of their dead ancestors (“Shang”). Politically, the Bronze Age was a time of hierarchical societies ruled royal linages (“Ritual and Power” 67). This brief summary of the Shang dynasty’s characteristics supports the emergence of the Bronze Age and how bronze was used in their

Within the past decades archaeologists have been working hard to discover more about Chinese cultural history through examination, classification, and interpretation of their artifacts. For instance, If one were to examine an ancient vessel he may not realize the significance of the details which signifies the beliefs of the people from the era. To prove that the ancient artifacts have deeper symbolical meaning we will examine the piece Rectangular Wine Vessel With Lotus And Crane. First, we will inspect the overall design and form of the piece. After, we can determine the specific function of the vessel and how it connects to common beliefs and practices of the ancient Chinese. One could hypothesise that his vessel is imitating beliefs within the Chinese culture and symbolize their practices in culture.

Ancient Chinese writing included pictographs, characters representing objects and ideographs. These symbols represent words, not letters (Spielvogel 283). Calligraphy was China’s most important art. It made beautiful pictures. Block printing was used to make seals for documents (Chun). Ancient Chinese art was made on bronze. These included vases, sculptures, cups, daggers, and urns. Clothes were made with colorful silk which was woven by artisans (Spielvogel 283). Yellow and red clothes were a symbol of beauty and power (Chun). Statues were carved from jade and ivory. Dishes were made from kaolin, a white clay (Spielvogel 283).

The portable art from this period was comprised of either small figurines or objects they would decorate. These pieces were carved from animal bones or stone, along or made from clay. The art depicted at the time was what was important to them at the time, such as animals (as they were a primary food source) or figurines that