Fig. 218.—Greek Potter attaching Handle to Vase (No. 535).
Fig. 219.—Potter's Kiln (No. 536).
Fig. 220.—Clay Lamps Spoiled in Baking (No. 538). Ca. 1:2.
Fig. 221.—Stamps for Making Moulds for Vases in Relief (No. 545).
The Potter.—At the end of the case are exhibits connected with potters and pottery. Here is seen the limestone figure of a Greek potter from Cyprus (No. 533; fig. 216), seated and modelling clay on the wheel. He reminds us of Homer's description of the potter's action when he compares the whirling motion of dancers to the revolving of a potter's wheel—"a motion exceeding light, as when a potter sits and makes trial of a wheel fitted to his hands, to see whether it will run."[64] Immediately behind is a potter's wheel in terracotta (No. 534; fig. 217), which has in the centre a depression for the insertion of the pivot on which it turned. It was found on a primitive site at Gournià in Crete. As the clay spun round on the wheel the potter moulded it into shape inside and outside with his hands. The foot, the handles, and the neck of the vase were moulded separately as a rule and attached afterwards to the body. A design on a sixth century Greek vase here exhibited (No. 535; fig. 218), depicts a Greek potter in the act of attaching a handle to a cup which rests upon a wheel. When the vase or other object had been modelled in clay, it then had to be fired. For this purpose a kiln was required, such as one (probably Roman) excavated at Shoeburyness, a model of which is here exhibited (No. 536). It consists of a barrel-shaped chamber, at about half the height of which is a horizontal table on a conical support, with eight round openings pierced in its circumference to allow the heat to penetrate above. Fuel was introduced below through a small fire-chamber constructed at the side (fig. 219). The packing of the objects to be fired required considerable care. For this purpose the so-called "cockspurs" (No. 537) were used for the larger pieces. But sometimes there were failures, such as the two batches of Roman lamps seen in this Case, which have become fused together in the baking (No. 538; fig. 220). If it survived the risks of manufacture, the pot often needed repair when in use, and several examples are shown of rivets, large and small, employed for this purpose (No. 539). The cover of a toilet-box (No. 540) shows the method of painting employed in the Greek red-figured vases; here the grotesque head has been outlined in black, but the background has not been filled in with black in the usual way. Two terracotta heads with projecting stumps (No. 541) show the manner in which the terracotta figurines were built up of several parts. The heads were inserted into holes in the trunks, and were then fastened in position with clay. An unfinished clay relief (No. 542) of a man with his dog, shows the first process in the production of modelled relief, such as those in the Room of Terracottas, Case 8.
A mould (No. 543) for making a bowl of the ware called Arretine from its place of manufacture, Arretium in Central Italy, is shown, with a cast from the mould beside it. An impression is also shown of the mark of M. Perennius, the most noted of the Arretine potters, in combination with his slave Bargates (No. 544). Near the mould are stamps, one with a design of a slave heating some fluid in a caldron, and others of a bear and lion (No. 545; fig. 221). These stamps were used for producing the designs in the moulds, being impressed in the clay while it was soft. Several specimens of these moulds and bowls, which are of about the first century B.C., will be seen in Cases 39-40 of the Fourth Vase Room.
The moulds for parts of Roman lamps, show the way in which these objects were produced. The clay was pressed into the lower mould (such as No. 546; fig. 222) and also into a corresponding upper mould (compare No. 547), and then the two halves were joined together and ready for baking.