15.3.Shaping and Decoration of Pottery 295 atively late invention.It appeared in the Near East around 3500 B.C.and in China between 2600 and 1700 B.C.Some areas of the world,such as the Western Hemisphere,never used the potters wheel until contact with European settlers was made. A number of decorations have been applied even to the earli- est pottery.Among them are impressing or stamping the clay be- fore firing with fingernails,pointed sticks,or ropes (Japanese Jomon ware of the second and first millennium B.c.)or rolling a cylinder with a design over the clay body,thus producing relief ornaments(Etruscans,first millennium B.c.).Washing or paint- ing the pottery with semi-liquid clay,called slip (with or without coloring metal oxides),has been quite popular over many mil- lennia;see Plate 15.1.White slip,when covered with a transpar- ent glaze,looks quite similar to tin glazing.Ancient Egyptians, for example,painted animals and scenic motifs with slip on red potteries.Metal oxides have often been added to glazes or slip for color.Specifically,tin oxide provides a white color,cobalt oxide and cupric oxide yield various bluish hues,and cuprous oxide,a series of greens.The colors obtained from ferric iron vary from pale yellow via orange-red to black.Manganese gives colors rang- ing from bright red to purple and antimony yields yellow.To pre- vent intermingling of the different hues,patterns are outlined with clay threads,thus exercising a cloisonne technique.The colors can be applied either under the glaze or over the glaze.When the decoration is painted on a white tin glaze,a third firing,utiliz- ing,for example,a transparent lead glaze,needs to be applied. Many more decoration techniques are (and have been)used including luster decoration(invented by early Islamic potters in- volving a colloidal suspension of gold,silver,or platinum to the glazed object,requiring an additional,gentle firing).Early pot- tery,dating back as far as 6500 B.c.,was polished or burnished after firing by rubbing with a soft,smooth stone (Turkey,6500 B.C.,Incas A.D.500,North American Indians A.D.1000 Plate 15.10)or varnished (Fiji islands).The wealth of art work evolv- ing from pottery over 9000 years is just overwhelming and can- not be done justice in a few paragraphs as presented here.The interested reader is referred to the art books listed at the end of this chapter. It might be of interest to know how the age of ancient pottery can be determined.Certainly,the common carbon fourteen method which requires organic material and which measures the radioactive decay of C-14,cannot be applied for inorganic ma- terials such as clay.However,in some cases pottery has been added to human burial sites which allows an estimate of the age of ceramics by knowing the age of the bones.In other cases whereatively late invention. It appeared in the Near East around 3500 B.C. and in China between 2600 and 1700 B.C. Some areas of the world, such as the Western Hemisphere, never used the potters wheel until contact with European settlers was made. A number of decorations have been applied even to the earli￾est pottery. Among them are impressing or stamping the clay be￾fore firing with fingernails, pointed sticks, or ropes (Japanese Jomon ware of the second and first millennium B.C.) or rolling a cylinder with a design over the clay body, thus producing relief ornaments (Etruscans, first millennium B.C.). Washing or paint￾ing the pottery with semi-liquid clay, called slip (with or without coloring metal oxides), has been quite popular over many mil￾lennia; see Plate 15.1. White slip, when covered with a transpar￾ent glaze, looks quite similar to tin glazing. Ancient Egyptians, for example, painted animals and scenic motifs with slip on red potteries. Metal oxides have often been added to glazes or slip for color. Specifically, tin oxide provides a white color, cobalt oxide and cupric oxide yield various bluish hues, and cuprous oxide, a series of greens. The colors obtained from ferric iron vary from pale yellow via orange-red to black. Manganese gives colors rang￾ing from bright red to purple and antimony yields yellow. To pre￾vent intermingling of the different hues, patterns are outlined with clay threads, thus exercising a cloisonné technique. The colors can be applied either under the glaze or over the glaze. When the decoration is painted on a white tin glaze, a third firing, utiliz￾ing, for example, a transparent lead glaze, needs to be applied. Many more decoration techniques are (and have been) used including luster decoration (invented by early Islamic potters in￾volving a colloidal suspension of gold, silver, or platinum to the glazed object, requiring an additional, gentle firing). Early pot￾tery, dating back as far as 6500 B.C., was polished or burnished after firing by rubbing with a soft, smooth stone (Turkey, 6500 B.C., Incas A.D. 500, North American Indians A.D. 1000 Plate 15.10) or varnished (Fiji islands). The wealth of art work evolv￾ing from pottery over 9000 years is just overwhelming and can￾not be done justice in a few paragraphs as presented here. The interested reader is referred to the art books listed at the end of this chapter. It might be of interest to know how the age of ancient pottery can be determined. Certainly, the common carbon fourteen method which requires organic material and which measures the radioactive decay of C-14, cannot be applied for inorganic ma￾terials such as clay. However, in some cases pottery has been added to human burial sites which allows an estimate of the age of ceramics by knowing the age of the bones. In other cases where 15.3 • Shaping and Decoration of Pottery 295