Shapes and motifs

1. 1
   

   Step 1 · Pottery · 4 min read

   Pottery Shapes

   Pottery classified by vessel form, whatever the ware, in ten shape families from bowls and jugs to composite vessels.

   The classification of Cypriot pottery by vessel form rather than ware, grouped into ten shape families from bowls and jugs to composite vessels.

2. 2
   

   Step 2 · Pottery · 14 min read

   Bowls

   The one shape made without a break from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, and so the natural place to start.

   The open vessel deeper than a plate and without a pouring neck, the one Cypriot pottery shape made without a break from the Neolithic to the Iron Age.

3. 3
   

   Step 3 · Pottery · 14 min read

   Tulip Bowls and Cult Vessels

   A special kind of bowl: deep, conical, black-topped Red Polished pieces of Early Cypriot I–II, known mostly from Vounous tombs.

   Deep, conical, black-topped Red Polished bowls of Early Cypriot I–II, and their elaborate protome-rimmed form, known mostly from the tombs of Vounous.

4. 4
   

   Step 4 · Pottery · 13 min read

   Jugs (Oinochoe)

   The Iron Age pouring jug or oinochoe, a painted wheelmade vessel made in regional workshops and exported widely.

   The Iron Age Cypriot pouring jug or oinochoe, a painted wheelmade vessel for liquids made in regional workshops and widely exported around the Mediterranean.

5. 5
   

   Step 5 · Pottery · 14 min read

   Amphora

   The two-handled jar, in belly-handled and vertical-handled painted series and as a basket-handled transport jar.

   A closed jar with two opposed handles, made in Cyprus in belly-handled and vertical-handled painted series and as a basket-handled transport jar.

6. 6
   

   Step 6 · Pottery · 4 min read

   Motifs of Cypriot Pottery

   Now the decoration: how ornament moved from combing and incision to paint, and how to read a decorated pot.

   The recurring patterns and figures painted, incised or modelled on Cypriot pottery, from Neolithic combing to the Cypro-Archaic free-field style.

7. 7
   

   Step 7 · Pottery · 8 min read

   Triple Crossing Lines

   An early painted motif: groups of lines crossing obliquely, the mark of the Middle Bronze Age White Painted Cross Line Style.

   Groups of parallel painted lines laid obliquely so that they cross one another, the defining motif of the Middle Bronze Age White Painted Cross Line Style.

8. 8
   

   Step 8 · Pottery · 12 min read

   Circles

   Concentric circles, disks, spirals and pendent semicircles, the leading geometric motif of Iron Age painted pottery.

   Concentric circles, disks, spirals and pendent semicircles, the leading geometric motif of Cypriot Iron Age painted pottery and of Gjerstad's Western style.

9. 9
   

   Step 9 · Pottery · 9 min read

   Lotus Flowers and Lotus Friezes on Cypriot Iron Age Pottery

   The chief plant motif of Iron Age painted pottery, the lotus and lotus-and-bud frieze, of Egyptian and Phoenician derivation.

   The lotus flower and lotus-and-bud frieze, the chief plant motif of Cypriot Iron Age painted pottery, of Egyptian and Phoenician derivation.

10. 10
    

    Step 10 · Pottery · 16 min read

    Free-Field Style: Birds, Bulls and Lotus on Cypro-Archaic Jugs

    The route ends with a layout: a single figure or motif set on the bare body of a jug, usually opposite the handle.

    A layout of Cypriot Iron Age vase painting in which a single figure or motif is set on the bare, unframed body of a jug, usually opposite the handle.

Start with Pottery Shapes →