Ceramics and Pottery Arts and Resources

 

 

  Volute Krater used for mixing wine with water

4th century BCE

 

 Georgian wine pots of antiquity

 

When it comes to wine, I now very little about tasting notes or wide palete, but two things I know is that the ancient Greeks had an amazing array of different vessels for the storage and consumption of wine, and Georgian viticulture goes back 8000 years. Just like the ancient Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans used the clay pithos and amphorae for their wines, the Georgians to this day still use the clay “qvevrie” for wine production. Wine cultivation is deeply entrenched in the Georgian culture, and the traditional qvevrie is used for making, ageing and storage of their wine and part of that process involves burying it beneath the ground for optimal temperature, fermentation and ageing. Almost every single farmer and also a majority of city dwellers in Georgia are wine makers.
The basic technological process consists of pressing grapes in a Satsnakheli (wine press), pouring the grape must and the “chacha” (grape skins, stalks and pips) into a “Qvevri” (the mixture fills around 80-85%), filling, sealing the “Qvevri” and leaving the mixture to age for 5-6 months. The skinless variety is buried in the ground up to 2 years. The egg shaped qvevrie promotes a natural convection of the internal fluids.
Unesco is considering adding the qvevri method to their world heritage list to preserve the craft as their are only a few good qvevrie makers still active. The favoured “Kakhetian” method creates a unique golden coloured wine. One of their favourite wines is the Tsistka, which has apple blossom and wild herbs mixed in during production.

 

 Huge qvevri coil built wine pot  – Georgia, Europe

Judging by the cart next to the pot, it is maybe 18 feet in height. .

 

 

 

The traditional method of wine-making continues to live in the centuries old monasteries.

 

 

 

Cleaning qvevri pots

 

 

 

Qvevri pots at the Georgian Telavi Monastery

 

 

 

 A discarded pot from a park wino?

 

 

 

 Lowering a qvevri pot into a pit.

Georgia

 

 

 

 Qvevri wine connoisseur

 

 

 

 Qvevri pot transportation

 

 

 

 Go forth and multiply

 

 

 

A Georgian ancestor  with a giant qvevri

 

 

 

 Qvevri pots in production

 

 

 

Kakheti, Georgia-  Gremi, the royal citadel and the Church of the Archangels, famous for its qvevri wine.

 

 

Ancient Greek Wine Pots

 

The wines of the ancients were a symbol of fertility, immortality, and divinity and had a reverential regard. Wine consumption wasn’t purely indulged in for ceremony or drunken revelry. Testing of ancient pots has revealed, from residues, the presence of medicinal herbs like myrrh, pine resin, and other substances like honey which contained anti-bacterial or even antiseptic properties.It was a standard practice to coat the inside of a wine amphora with propolis, a resinous sealant made by bees, which also had a medicinal reputation. The mixing of wine with water in a ratio of 1:4 was more then likely for the purpose of making the water safe to consume. There is much evidence of the popularity of volute kraters which were used for this purpose. Both the Egyptians and Chinese developed herbal remedies using wines which acted as solvents to break down and extract the active ingredients and this pharmacopeia was passed down through time to the Hebrews, Greeks and Romans. Initially in the ancient Mediterranean, wine was primarily drunk by the wealthier classes, but by the Roman period, it was cheap enough for it to become a pastime of the masses.

 

 

 

 Apollo cup white ground kylix – Greek

480-70-BCE

 

 

 

 Italian Red Figure Squat Lekythos with Aphrodite and Eros

4th CenturyBC

 

 

 

Dionysus –  Bacchus Roman God of Wine

 

 

 

 Dancing Satyrs and Maenads on a Black Figured Amphora

Made in Athens between 540 – 510 BC. Attributed to Painter N, and signed by Nikosthenes the potter.

British Museum

 

 

 

 

 Ceremonial rhyton held by Dionysos

 

 

 

Epichysis, or wine vessel,  from the Apulia region of Italy depicting a reclining nude Satyr.

Arthur Erickson

 

 

 

This earthenware platter, influenced by the work of ceramist Bernard Palissy, illustrates the rustic and formal aspects of a French garden with Pomona, goddess of gardens and orchards.

MET

 

 

‘Bacchante with grapes’ – a tribute to Bourdelle by Jean Mayodon

 

Terracotta  tankard  Cypriote

1400-1350 BCE

 

 Etruscan terracotta oinochoe (jug) in the form of a woman’s head, late 4th century BCE

mharrsch-flickr

 

 

 

 Greek red figure terracotta kantharos (drinking cup with high handlesca )

Attic, 490-480-B.C

Glenn Gulley – Flickr

 

 

Large Greek amphora, , showing the goddess Athena

National Archaeological Museum of Athens

 

 

 Volute Krater – Canosa, Italy

 

 

Geometric style pottery.-Oenochoe decorated with figures of goats, fallow deer and ibex.-From Rhodes, Greece

7th century B.C.

 

 

 

 Lucanian Volute Krater by the Creusa Painter

380-370BC

 

 

 Rhodian  oinochoe with wild goats, bulls and geese

Museum Of Fine Arts Boston

 

 

 

 Large Egyptian wall painting of wine production

 

 

 

 

 Ancient Greek Pottery Statuette of a Siren – known for luring drunken sailors.

 

Other wine vessels of interest

 

 

 A toast to the Magnum slip cast ceramic wine fermentation vessel.

Byron Bay, Australia

Inspired by Natural Selection Theory, “Project Egg”, and in deference to the astonishing work of Josko Gravner and the great Georgian tradition of making wines in clay “Qvevri”,

Flow Forms

 

 

 

 

Internal flow patterns of the Magnum wine vessel

 Constructed with 12mm thick walls. The iconic “egg” shape promotes passive convection within, allowing developing wine to “live and breathe”. The geometric shape is derived from sacred geometry.

 

 Huge amphora – Cape Point Vineyards, ZA

 

 

 

Ewer with calligraphy, Iran

10th century

 

 

 

Chinese statue of a wine drinker

 

 

 Contemporary carafe/jug – Cody Hoyt

Patrick Parrish, 1st Dibs

 

Goblet -Ellison Bay Pottery – etsy

 

 

Ewer with dancing females within arcades

6th-7th Century AD, Sasanian, Iran

The Metropolitan Museum ,NY

 

 1950’s French tripod ceramic wine cooler

Patrick Parrish, 1st Dibs

 

 

Farsta Terra Spirea Cup by Wilhelm Kåge – 1957

Sam Kaufman-1stDibs

 

 

Twin handled Wide Oval Flask – Mark Shapiro

 

 

 Mid Century Scandinavian decanter

 

 

 

 Mayan Goblet -600-900AD

 

 

 

 Marcello Fantoni mid century ceramic decanter

 

 

 

Large hand painted round decanter – Javier Sevrin, Mexico

 

Calebasse palm wine vessel – Tikar, Camaroon

 

 

Iranian wine ewer 

ACMA

 

Majolica Wine Flask  – Bottega di Guido Durantino

(1535)

 

 

 

 

Wine Cistern – Francesco Durantino, Italian,

1543-1553

 

 

 

Oenochoe (wine jug)  – Emilia Romagna

Ceretolo, Italy

 

 

Lushan ware suffused glaze porcelain wine jug – Tang Dynasty

 

 

 

‘Meditrina’ Roman Goddess of Wine Bronze Sculpture

 

 

 

Alcora faience wine jar

Spain

 

 

 

White Ground Lekythos, Achillies painter,

c. 440 – 430 BCE, Sicily, Italy

 

 60’s Russian ram decanter

 

 

 

 

Tall Raymor Fantoni Caproni carafe/pitcher

 

 

Vintage Bellhop ceramic decanter, Germany

 

 

Gold  ceramic goblet with three grotesque gargoyles – Royal Dalton

 

 

 

Carafe – Reg Preston

 

 

 

John Percival goblet

 

The Tao of the Grape

 

Wine, by virtue of its sour taste is ruled by the ‘Wood’ element. The clay vessels are ruled by the Earth element. These two elements are highly compatible. Whereas the wooden barrels are more discordant, as wood on wood clashes. The liver is also ruled by the wood element, which is why it isn’t really harmonious with wine consumption (along with the chemicals in play ) The ancients used sweet, bitter and pungent herbs to temper the sour taste. All factors considered, the traditional organic Georgian wine should be less prone to provoking a hangover. I’m curious to try some organic Georgian brew to put that theory to the test.

 

 

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