learn more about greek pottery and use our templates and
TRANSCRIPT
DESIGN YOUR OWN GREEK
VASE
Ancient Greeks decorated their pottery in rich complicateddesigns. The Museum of Classical Archaeology holdshundreds of pottery sherds (pieces). We have picked a fewexamples of the geometric style, which focuses on shapesand lines. We also threw in a few more complicated stylesfor fun. You should know that the ideal in Greek pottery was tocover the entire surface of the vase with thesedecorations. We hope that these sherds inspire you to create your ownGreek Vase and to draw fanciful patterns on yourpot using examples of pottery sherds from the museum. Share your designs with us on social media!
Learn more about Greek Potteryand use our templates and sherdsfrom our collection, to design your
own vase!
ANCIENT GREEK GEOMETRIC
POTTERY
This shard is fromNaucratis. It is a piece of
the rim, the upper edge ofthe pot. The maze-likedecoration is called a
meander. Very common inpottery!
This shard is a part of redfigure krater from south Italy. Red Figure means all of the
decoration was red. The swirly-leafy decoration is
known as "lotus andpalmette"
This almost complete potfrom Corinth is decorated
with a tongue pattern at thetop, and a scale pattern onthe main body. The scales
were drawn with a compass.
ANCIENT GREEK GEOMETRIC
POTTERY
This sherd is also fromNaucratis, but black-
figure. That means thecolour used on top of
the clay was black. Thisis a simpler meander
and dot pattern.
This is another black figure rimpiece. The pattern to us might
seem like hearts. To theancient potter it is vine leaves!Leaves and flowers were also
a common way to fill in space.
This one is a special treat!It is a fragment of an EastGreek Bird Bowl. It comesfrom Al Mina. Pottery was
often decorated withanimals too!