Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology		The Collections:
	PotWeb:	Ceramics online @ the Ashmolean Museum	•	Early Europe & Near East
			•	Classical to Medieval
			•	Europe from 1500
			•	Oriental & Islamic

Fingerprints of the maker

Decorative techniques

Surface treatment and decorative techniques can give insights into the quantity and quality of the workers engaged at a production centre in this labour-intensive craft. Decorative motifs may reflect the environment familiar to the potter, a family trademark or a reference to the intended use. They may also indicate social hierarchies, group identities or social status of the perceived consumer. Alternatively, their eye-catching appearance may have been designed to promote sales. Glazes in the medieval period were mainly lead-based, forming a yellowish-green vitreous surface. Mottled green and bright green colour was achieved by adding copper to the glaze. The craftsmen potters of the Brill/Boarstall production centre, strong market-leaders in the thirteenth century, showed great freedom of artistic expression. This suggests sound capital investment in a dynamic, well organised industry.

The stimulus of this decorative jug may be derived from life in the forest where the potters gathered their fuel

The making of the vessel

Fingerprints ...

How were pots fired?

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