History of Ancient Pottery

This two-volume, highly illustrated 1858 work discusses the pottery of the ancient Near East, Greece and Rome.

Samuel Birch (Author)

9781108081917, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 April 2015

466 pages, 70 b/w illus. 6 colour illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.6 cm, 0.59 kg

The Egyptologist Samuel Birch (1813–85) began to study Chinese at school, and obtained his first post at the British Museum cataloguing Chinese coins. He maintained his interest in Chinese civilisation throughout his life, but also collaborated with C. T. Newton on a catalogue of Greek and Etruscan vases, and with Sir Henry Rawlinson on cuneiform inscriptions, while also specialising in the examination and cataloguing of the Museum's growing collection of Egyptian papyri and other artefacts. Birch describes this two-volume, highly illustrated work on ancient pottery, published in 1858, as filling a perceived need: 'A work has long been required which should embody the general history of the fictile art of the ancients.' Volume 2 continues to examine Greek pottery, including the work of named or identified individual craftsmen, and then moves on to Etruscan and Roman wares, with a short final section on 'Celtic, Teutonic, and Scandinavian pottery'.

Part II. Greek Pottery (cont.): 7. Glazed vases (cont.)
8. Ancient potters
9. Uses of vases
10. Sites of ancient potteries
Part III. Etruscan Pottery: 1. Etruscan terra-cottas
Part IV. Roman Pottery: 1. Bricks
2. Statues
3. Vases
4. Division of Roman pottery
5. Glazed Roman pottery
Part V. Celtic, Teutonic, and Scandinavian Pottery: 1. Celtic pottery
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: Classical Greek & Roman archaeology [HDDK]