Pottery has a long history in Keftiu. We have a few heirloom pieces that represent some of the earliest periods of our history. Early Minoan pottery (Early Minoan) was dominated by linear decorations in a red or brown semi-lustrous paint. The paint is actually a highly refined type of clay which becomes red or black after firing. So-called Vasiliki Ware (not a very Minoan name, is it?) was also popular. In Vasiliki Ware, the linear decorations were applied to the entire pot and the surface was mottled with large black dots. Some of these pots had outrageously large spouts. My favorite pot from this time period dates to after the Vasiliki Ware period. It is a teapot (c2200-2000 BC) with a restrained spout on one end and a round handle on the other. A thick creamy white paint was used to draw pairs of slanting lines that were spaces evenly across a black background. The patterns are described as "simple but strangely effective".
The pottery of the First Palaces is dominated by "Kamares Ware". The finest examples come from the palaces at Knossos and Phaestos. Bridge-spouted jars, beak-spouted jugs, tea-cups, and two-handled cups were decorated with curvilinear abstract patterns, marine creatures, frogs, flowers, leaves, and petals. Others imitated striped and mottled stone. Bright reds, oranges, yellows, and pure whites were used against a black background. Kamares Ware pots were excellently executed on the newly arrived potter's wheel and the finest examples have very thin walls.
One spouted jar (a jar with a spout and handle on it) from Phaestos is decorated with a design that is like two ax blades (a double ax) with a diamond design in its center rather than a shaft. The black outline of the design is filled in with orange. The rest of the background is painted white.
Applied ornaments, such as flowers and raised knobs that were added to the pots, were "regrettably popular". I have seen one poor pedestal bowl (a cup-sized bowl on a short pedestal or base) from Phaestos which is unfortunate enough to have had five light-colored flowers added to the four different bands of decoration on its front. It has the dubious distinction of being the "most vulgar" object of Minoan craftsmen. Its vulgarness is why we do not have any examples in our shops.
Pottery of the Second Palaces period is characterized by dark-on-light designs. The clay is clear yellow and the decoration is executed with fine glossy black with touches of red and white. Tea-cups, jugs with horizontal spouts, rhytons, and large pear-shaped storage-jars can all be found. Pottery of this period is influences by the frescoes. Pottery decorated in the Pattern Style might have rows of thick-rimmed, solid-centered spirals joined together. Pottery influenced by the Floral Style might have flowers, grasses, and reeds in graceful patterns. The two styles could also be combined in one pot. Bull's heads and double-axes might be combined with a spiral design. Marine themes became popular a little later (around 1500 BC). We have a flask covered by a giant octopus and another vase with shells and stars. Other objects have dolphins, fish, starfish, and argonauts with backgrounds of corals, seaweed, sponges, and weeds. The Marine style ended with the destruction (except for Knossos) of the Palaces (in 1450 BC), but we have a few heirloom pieces done in that style.
The large,unpainted storage jars for grain and oil continued to be made until partway through the Final Palace Period. These giant jars can be as tall or taller than a man. They are decorated with lines and loops that imitate the ropes that are used to move them. These jars are no longer being made, but again we have a few examples left.
During the Final Palace period, when only the palace at Knossos was in use, pottery tended to reflect Mycenaean tastes. Mycenaean pottery is more formal than Minoan pottery and is more likely to include martial themes. The Mycenaeans have borrowed greatly from Minoan themes. They have adopted our use of rosettes, octopus, and other designs. Mycenaean pottery can be divided into the Pattern Style and the Pictorial Style. The Pattern style has scales, spirals, chevrons, octopuses, shells, and flowers. These patterns became simplified over time. The Pictorial Style imitates the art of the frescoes. We have several examples (from the 14th century BC) of wide-necked craters with chariot scenes. The wide-necked craters were succeeded by deep bowls with appealing animal scenes of bulls, birds, and sphinxes. One fine example has a bird removing a tick from a bowing bull.
The pottery of Keftiu has never completely conformed to the Mycenaean styles and continues to show a greater sense of freedom and naturalism than Mycenaean styles. A fine example of a jar from the Final Palace period comes to us from Phaestos. It has a lovely, fluttering bird standing on a fish amidst a patterned design.
The fringe style developed in Keftiu (c 12th century BC). This style is characterized by thick areas of designs separated by fine lines arranged in abstract patterns. It is used in stirrup-jars, cosmetic-jars, and tankards. Stirrup-jars were invented in Keftiu you know. (They were created in the later 16th century BC and became popular in the 14th century BC).
The Octopus Style came out of the Keftiu love of decorating stirrup-jars with a black octopus. In this later version, small fish and birds are drawn between the tentacles.
Not everyone can afford gold and silver vessels, so some Mycenaean objects were covered with tin plating that imitated the more expensive metals. We have some fine examples of tin-plated goblets.
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Created before July 2005
Last Updated November 30, 2009