Sometime between 6,000 and 4,000 BC, the first potter’s wheel was invented in Mesopotamia. This brought about a revolution in the way ancient people could create items out of clay. No longer were pottery makers restricted to the long process of hand molding clay, they were then able to have more freedom in experimenting with new forms and aesthetics.
While pottery had always had intrinsic artistic qualities, when the potter’s wheel arrived, it shifted the process even more. Instead of serving utilitarian purposes, it now served artistic ones. While the earliest types of items found by archaeologists were generally undecorated, unglazed, hand-formed clay vessels, by 6000 BC, places like the Middle East, China and Europe had developed a wide array of design techniques.
From intricate painted designs that told the history of a Pharaoh’s reign to highly polished bowls and plates to elaborate animal figures, ceramists attained remarkable skill and ability that was never seen before, thanks to the invention of the potter’s wheel.
If you want to know more about this unique, ancient practice and how it has evolved into the industry it is today, wait with us......
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