The History of Ceramics

What if a pot could be read like a book?

In the second part of their journey through Mesoamerica, Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh travel to the great ancient city of Cholula – a bustling centre of trade, pilgrimage and cultural exchange – to explore the extraordinary ceramics of the Mixtec-Puebla tradition.

Painted with gods, symbols and intricate bands of imagery, these highly prized vessels transformed clay into a sophisticated visual language that could communicate across cultures and linguistic barriers. From stories of warfare and sacrifice to sunlight, death and the worship of the gods, they reveal a world in which ceramics could be read as well as admired.

Traded across vast distances, these remarkable pots offer a glimpse into the beliefs, rituals and interconnected cultures of Mesoamerica – and lead us towards the rise of the Aztec Empire.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Mesoamerica - Mixtec Puebla: When Pots Told Stories
• 00:02:36 The Great City of Cholula: A Multi-Ethnic Trading Hub
• 00:05:44 Writing on Clay: Vessels as Visual Language
• 00:08:22 High-Value Commodities: Ritual Vessels and Elite Status
• 00:09:57 The Codex Style: Pictorial Manuscripts on Pottery
• 00:11:20 Forms and Materials: Earthenware Goblets and Burnished Surfaces
• 00:12:52 The Iconic Principle: Symbols for Gods and Rituals
• 00:14:35 Sacrifice, Duality, and the Pantheon of Gods
• 00:17:12 Color as Communication: Orange for Light, Black for Darkness
• 00:18:48 The Notational Principle: Bands That Resemble Speech
• 00:20:58 Reading the Bands: From Solar Gods to Darkness and Death
• 00:23:57 Narrative-Driven Culture: Pots That Tell Stories
• 00:25:54 Legacy and Connection: Linking to the Aztec Empire

Featured Images:

Map of Mixteca-Puebla and Mesoamerica, Creative Commons

Map of Cholula

George Vaillant, archaeologist, ca. 1937, Creative Commons, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Clapp_Vaillant#/media/File:AMNH_staff,_1937.jpg
Pyramids of the Sun, Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan, Mexico, by Burkhard Mücke created by SA CC 4.0

Map of Cholula, Ttlaxcala, 1581

Pyramid of Cholula, Ca. 1813, Alexander von Humboldt
Pedestal Bowl, 1300–1500 CE, Mixtec artists, The Met Collection, Public Domain

Vessel with Codex-Style Scenes, Creative Commons,

Mixteca-Puebla Pottery Vessel, c. 1300–1521,

Codex Borgia, from the 1898 Faximilie Edition, Public Domain, Creative Commons

Bowl, 1200–1400, Mixtec, Oaxaca, Mexico, National Gallery of Victoria, Public Domain

Pedestal Cup from Cholula, c. 1350–1521, Public Domain, Leo Stein Collection, National Museum of the American Indian, New York.

Thematic Complexes on Codex-Style Vessels from Cholula, Mixteca-Puebla, Americae, Public Domain https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Tripod Vase Polichrome Ceramic, 1300–1521

Bowl with Rattle Base, c. 900–1519, Cleveland Museum of Art, Public Domain

Censer with the Complex of Powerful Lords and Deities, Mixteca-Puebla, Americae, Public Domain https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Codex, 1200–1521, Mixteca

Whistle with the Maize God emerging from the Flower, 600 – 900 CE, The Met Collection, Public Domain

Cholula-Style Ceramic Goblet with Skeletal Serpent and Mountain Sign, Mixteca-Puebla, 1300 – 1500 CE

Rain God Mask, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Met Collection, Public Domain

Sun and Light Painted on Middle Polychrome Plate,
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Polychrome Figural Vessel of Chicomecoatl, c. 1000–1500, Mixteca-Puebla

Goblet with a Complex of Darkness, Ca. 1300 – 1500,

Mixtec Goblet, Ca. 1000 – 1500

Polychrome Ceramic Bowl, 800–1300, Mexico, Penn Museum, Public Domain

Pulque Drinking Cup, 900–1519, Cholula, Mixteca-Puebla style, Cleveland Museum of Art, Public Domain

Montezuma in the Codex Mendoza, 16th century, Creative Commons, Public Domain
Mixteca-Puebla Pottery Vessel, c. 1300–1521, The Met Collection, Public Domain,

Credits:
Hosts: Paul Greenhalgh & Stephanie Rozene
Editor: Dennis Caouki
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac

For more great art content visit www.heni.com or visit the Heni Talks YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@HENITalks

Journey into the extraordinary world of the Classic Maya, where ceramics were far more than objects for everyday use; they were vessels for food, status, storytelling, ritual and belief.

Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh explore the golden age of Maya ceramics, discovering how skilled potters created sophisticated hand-built vessels without the potter’s wheel. From humble cooking pots used to prepare maize to beautifully painted polychrome vessels and prized cacao cups, ceramics offer a remarkable window into Maya life.

They uncover the profound relationship between food and mythology, including the Maya creation story in which the first humans were made from corn, and explore how gods, rulers and ancient stories were painted across the surfaces of pots. They also enter the dramatic world of the Maya ball game, where sport, political power, sacrifice and the struggle between life and death became intertwined.

Beautiful, complex and sometimes unsettling, these surviving ceramics allow us to glimpse a civilisation in which the everyday and the sacred were inseparable – and where a simple clay vessel could tell the story of the cosmos.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Mesoamerica - The Maya: Gods, Myths and Ceramics
• 00:00:22 Defining Mesoamerica: Geography and the Maya World
• 00:04:31 Hand-Built Mastery: Pottery Without the Wheel
• 00:07:31 Corn and Clay: The Kitchen as Sacred Space
• 00:14:06 The Creation Myth: Humans Made from Corn
• 00:17:21 Forms and Functions: The Ceramic Repertoire
• 00:19:11 The Sensory Feast: Vessels That Ring and Sing
• 00:22:23 Codex Style Pottery: Visual Narratives and Funerary Offerings
• 00:27:11 The Ritual Ball Game: Life, Death, and Cosmic Balance
• 00:27:20 The Golden Age: Classic Maya Polychrome Ceramics

Map of Mesoamerica
Map of Mesoamerica, Wikipedia, Public Domain
Vessel Depicting a Sacrificial Ceremony for a Royal Accession, ca. 750–800 CE, Maya. Public Domain, Art Institute of Chicago
Cylindrical Vessel, 6th–9th century, Maya. The The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain
Tripod Bird Bowl, 3rd–4th century, Maya. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pubic Domain
Death of Penthesilia, ca. 540–530 BCE. 
Mayan Kitchen Fresco, Preparing Cacao, Maya.
Plate with the God Chahk, 600–800 CE, Maya artist(s). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain
Maya Ceramic Bowl Offering of Tamales to the Gods, Creative Commons, Public Domain
Jomon Pot, Late Jomon Period, 2500–1000 BCE, creative commons, public domain
Olla-Shape Pottery, 21st century, earthenware, Mexico
Plate with Trumpeter, 700–800 CE, Maya. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain
Pinchancha, 21st century, earthenware, Zacualpan, Guerrero, Mexico. 
Maya Tripod Plate, Late Classic period, ca. 550–950 CE, Maya, public domain 
Tripod Plate, Maya. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pubilc Domain
Model of the Various Structures that Make Up the Pyramid of Cholula. 
Whistle with the Maize God Emerging from a Flower, 600–900 CE, Maya artist(s). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain
Mural Depicting the Maize God, Maya. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maya_maize_god.jpg 
Freshly Fired Comales Cooling, 21st century, earthenware, San Mateo Mixtepec, Mexico. 
Tetrapod Bowl, 1st–4th century, Maya. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain
Vessel with Mythological Scene, 600–800 CE, Metropolitan Painter. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain
Vessel Depicting the Rain God Chahk, ca. 600–800 CE, Maya.
Facsimile of the Madrid Codex. Museum of the Americas, Public Domain
Lidded Vessel, 3rd–4th century, Maya. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain
Itzamna Seated in a Classic Period Polychrome Ceramic (Kerr 504), Maya, public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:God_D_Itzam.jpg 
Ixchel with Rabbit, Maya, Public Domain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Moon_Goddess#/media/File:Goddess_O_Ixchel.jpg 
Codex-Style Plate Featuring the Maize God and the Hero Twins, 680–740 CE, Maya, El Petén, Guatemala. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Public Domain
  

Credits:
Hosts: Paul Greenhalgh & Stephanie Rozene
Editor: Dennis Caouki
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac

For more great art content visit www.heni.com or visit the Heni Talks YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@HENITalks

In the second of two episodes, Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh follow Peter Voulkos through the explosive years that transformed him from master potter into one of the most radical figures in modern ceramics.

From the experimental studios of Otis and Berkeley to his monumental Blackwares, stacks and platters, Voulkos tears, cuts, pounds and rebuilds clay, pushing it far beyond the traditional vessel. His performances become legendary, while a generation of students go on to reshape American ceramics themselves.

But behind the charismatic “wild man” lies a more complicated story of addiction, recovery and relentless creativity. Stephanie and Paul explore Voulkos’s later years and the extraordinary legacy of an artist who changed not simply how ceramics looked, but what clay could be.

Featured Images:

Rocking Pot, 1956, Peter Voulkos.

Pot Shop, UC Berkeley, c. 1960s, Jim Melchert.

Last Temptation of Ming, 2015, Ron Nagle.

Blue Face with White Stripe, 1971, Stephen De Staebler.

Looking at Pictures, 2016, Mary Heilmann.

Installation View of “New Talent XIII”, 1960, Peter Voulkos.

Peter Voulkos at Work in the Faith and Charity in Hope Gallery, 1984, Peter Voulkos.

Sunset Rip, 2008, Mary Heilmann.

Paul Soldner’s MFA Show, 1956, Paul Soldner, Peter Voulkos and John Mason.

Arlene Schechet in the Jewish Museum, 2018, Sara Wasserman.

Peter Voulkos at Work, by Stephanie Rozene

Installation View of Voulkos: The Breakthrough Years, [date unknown], Butcher Walsh.

Untitled Chicken Pot, 1958, Peter Voulkos. The New York Times, 2021.

Little Big Horn, 1959, Peter Voulkos.

ientos, 1959, Peter Voulkos.

Sitting Bull, 1959, Peter Voulkos.

Annon, 1959, Peter Voulkos. Photograph by E. G. Schempf, Museum of Arts and Design.

Pauline Annon,  circa 1950, Estate of Pauline Anon  

Peter Voulkos at Work, c. 1960s, 

Pinatubo, 1994, Peter Voulkos.

Ice Bucket, [date unknown], Peter Voulkos.

Bronze Ice Bucket, 1986, Peter Voulkos.

Iron Head, 1979, Peter Voulkos.

Selfies at the V and A, Stephanie Rosine and Paul Greenhalgh

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Peter Voulkos - A Revolution in Clay Part 2
• 00:00:59 Otis College and Building the Studio from Scratch
• 00:03:46 Industrial Scale: Dough Mixers, Modified Wheels, and Forklift Kilns
• 00:05:34 The Roll Call: Students Who Became Titans
• 00:07:26 New York Connections: MoMA and Abstract Expressionism
• 00:08:31 Berkeley Years: Founding a Program and Pure Theater
• 00:12:26 The Female Legacy: Mary Heilman and Breaking Boundaries
• 00:18:07 The Blackwares: Breakthrough Pieces and New Language
• 00:18:52 The Breakthrough Years: 15 Years of Frantic Experimentation
• 00:27:23 Settling Into Iconic Forms: Stacks, Ice Buckets, and Platters
• 00:28:06 Struggles and Redemption: The 1970s and 1980s
• 00:32:34 Recognition and Retrospective: The 1978 SFMOMA Show
• 00:34:02 Legacy: The Man Who Changed Everything

Credits:
Hosts: Paul Greenhalgh & Stephanie Rozene
Editor: Sam Bond
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac

What happens when a master potter decides to break all the rules?

In the first of two episodes, Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh explore the life and work of Peter Voulkos, the artist who helped transform American ceramics after the Second World War.

From his Montana childhood and wartime service to his first encounter with clay, Voulkos begins as a brilliantly skilled traditional potter. But through teachers, fellow artists and the experimental world of 1950s America, he starts cutting, tearing and rebuilding clay in radically new ways.    By the mid-1950s, pottery was becoming sculpture and a revolution in clay was underway.

To see the images from this podcast, please switch to video in your podcasting app.

Featured Images:

Photo of Voulkos doing pottery by Stephanie Rozene

Photo Filming Voulkos at work, by Stephanie Rozene

Voulkos Correcting a student, Stephanie Rozene.

VOulkos nished platers on table, Stephanie Rozene

Photo of John Balistreri assisting Peter Voulkos. 1990s (Creative Commons)

Voulkos at Potters wheel, ca. 1956

Photo of Frances Senzka smiling

Photo of Edith Heath, Date Unknown, (Wikipedia)

Photograph of Maija-Grotell-1920s (Wikiedpia)

Marguerite finishing a vase, ca.1950s. 1998 Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona Foundation

Face Vessel, ca. 1970s, Marguerite Wildenhain

Archie Bray and Rudy Autio photograph, ca. 1951

Photograph of Frances Senska and her pots, 1988, Linda Best photo / Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Chicken and Wine Set, 1960, Frances Senzka

Ya Ba Bo jar, 1970, Frances Senzka

Bottom of Ya Ba Bo jar, 1970, Frances Senzka

Peter Voulkos Painting his Ceramics, ca. 1950s

Ceramic National Piece, 1950, Peter Voulkos ????

Gourd Shaped Vases, Vases with Leaf, Green-Swirled Vases, 1952, Peter Voulkous

Archie Bray Putting Soda in Beehive Kiln ca. 1950s

Yanagi, Leach, Autio, Voulkous and Hamada at the Archie Bray Foundation

Voulkos kicking the wheel for Hamada at Archie Bray Foundation, 1952

Karen Karnes, (1925-2016), Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina

David Weinrib, (1924 – 2016)

Robert Rauschenberg at Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, NC, United States, circa 1951. Photo: Cy Twomble

M.C Richards (1914 – 1999) Wikipedia Picture

Untitled Stoneware with Acrylic Paint, ca. 1953, MC Richards Collaboration with Peter Voulkos

Covered Jar, 1953, Peter Voulkos

Jackson Pollock at work – photograph by Hans Namuth (Wikipedia)

Marguerite Wildenhaine, ca. 1962, Wikipedia page.

Rocking Pot, 1956 Peter Voulkos (Smithsonian ART Museum)

Peter Voulkos working, ca. 1960.

Tony Prieto Tall Vase, Stoneware, 1950. The Everson Museum of Art. Photo credit Stephanie Rozene.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Peter Voulkos - The Man Who Broke the Rules
• 00:00:58 Stephanie's Personal Encounter with Voulkos at Alfred University
• 00:05:07 The Two Sides of Peter Voulkos: Machismo and the Dance
• 00:07:47 Early Life: Montana, Greek Immigrant Roots, and World War II
• 00:10:37 Finding Clay: Frances Senska and Montana State College
• 00:14:54 The Foundations of Mastery: Learning Traditional Pottery Skills
• 00:17:31 Early Success and the Archie Bray Foundation
• 00:21:09 The 1952 Leach and Hamada Tour: International Influences
• 00:22:09 Black Mountain College and M.C. Richards: Opening New Doors
• 00:32:33 New York City 1953: Abstract Expressionism and Transformation
• 00:39:47 Breaking with Tradition: The Rocking Pot and Radical Experimentation
• 00:44:59 Setting the Stage: Otis College and What's to Come

Credits:
Hosts: Paul Greenhalgh & Stephanie Rozene
Editor: Dennis Caouki
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac

The story of Greek ceramics continues with a revolution in pottery. Around 530 BC, Athenian potters began turning the familiar world of black-figure decoration on its head, creating the extraordinary red-figure vessels that would come to define Classical Greek ceramics.

Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh explore the potters, workshops and innovations behind this transformation, and discover how ceramics became part of everyday Greek life – from wine-drinking symposia to sporting prizes and simple household wares. As Greek influence spreads across the Mediterranean, so too do its ceramic traditions, before a new power emerges: Rome. Yet conquest would not bring the story to an end. The Romans absorbed and reinvented Greek forms, ensuring their influence would survive for centuries.

Please switch to video in your podcasting app, to see the pots being spoken about in this episode.

Featured Artworks:

Black Figure Amphore, Attributed to Group E (British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Red Figure amphora, signed by Andokides, c.530 BCE

Terracotta amphora (jar)

Red Figure bell krater, Anonymous, often referred to as by the Berlin Painter, Greek, c.480 BCE, Louvre Museum.

Anonymous, possibly Apulian, possibly Boeotian, 480 BCE

Francois Vase, Black Figure krater, decorated by Kleitias, made by Ergotimos, Greek, 570-560 BCE, Archaeological Museum, Florence. (CC 3.0)

Terracotta kyathos (cup-shaped ladle), Attributed to the Group of Berlin 2095, c. 530–500 BCE

Terracotta amphora (jar), Attributed to the Orvieto Painter, c. 540 BCE

Small terracotta amphora (jar), Greek, Attic, c. 800–750 BCE

Terracotta neck-amphora (storage jar), Greek, Corinthian, c. 620–590 BCE

Terracotta neck-amphora (jar), Attributed to the Edinburgh Painter, c. 500 BCE

Terracotta neck-amphora (jar) with lid and knob (27.16), Attributed to Exekias, c. 540 BCE

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask), Attributed to the Amasis Painter, c. 550–530 BCE

Terracotta column-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), Attributed to Lydos, c. 550 BCE

Terracotta Nolan neck-amphora (jar), Attributed to the Ethiop Painter, c. 450 BCE

Terracotta neck-amphora (jar) with twisted handles, Attributed to the Lykaon Painter, c. 440 BCE 

Terracotta amphora (jar), Attributed to the Berlin Painter, c. 490 BCE

Terracotta skyphos (deep drinking cup), Greek, Attic mid-5th century BCE

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: The Ancient Greeks - From Red Figure to the Rise of Rome
• 00:01:29 Recap: From Geometric to Black Figure Pottery
• 00:02:49 The Potters: Immigrant Makers and Family Workshops
• 00:04:52 The Red Figure Revolution: A Technical Breakthrough
• 00:06:45 Andokides and Bilingual Pottery
• 00:09:18 Pattern Bands and Workshop Signatures
• 00:11:33 Sophistication and Space: The Classical Aesthetic
• 00:14:13 The Berlin Painter: Minimalist Mastery
• 00:16:37 Shapes and Function: The Symposium Culture
• 00:18:54 Slavery, Democracy, and Greek Society
• 00:22:06 The Value Question: Cheap Plastic or Precious Art?
• 00:25:43 Production and Economics: From Souvenir Cups to Masterworks
• 00:28:01 Greeks Had No Word for Art
• 00:29:14 Legacy and Permanence: Objects That Tell Stories
• 00:31:40 The Hellenistic Expansion: Red Figure Goes Global
• 00:33:36 The Roman Conquest: 146 BC and the End of Greek Independence
• 00:37:20 Ceramic Memory: How Clay Survives Empire

Credits:
Hosts: Paul Greenhalgh & Stephanie Rozene
Editor: Sam Bond
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac

Emerging from the turmoil of the Bronze Age collapse, ancient Greece would become one of the most influential cultures in history – and ceramics were at the heart of its story.

Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh trace the extraordinary rise of Greek pottery, from the bold patterns of the Geometric period to the great workshops of Athens and Corinth and the exquisite black-figure vessels of the Golden Age. Against a backdrop of warring city-states, expanding trade and the looming threat of the Persian Empire, they discover how these pots became vessels for myth, storytelling and everyday life – and an extraordinary record of a civilisation taking shape.

To view the ceramics being discussed in this episode, please switch to video in your podcasting app.

Featured Artworks:

Images featured in this episode:Terracotta volute-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), Etruscan, c. 340–300 BCE

Terracotta hydria (water jar), Greek, Euboean, mid-6th century BCE

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask), Attributed to the Painter of Athens 1943, c. 450–440 BCE

Map of Peloponnesian War 431 BC

Map of Athens

Proto-geometric pottery, c. 950-800, made at Kerameikos
© The Trustees of the British Museum.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Plan of Kerameikos, Athens
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
(CC 4.0)

Kerameikos Photo, Athens
Courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh

Terracotta amphora (jar), Signed by Andokides, Attributed to the Andokides Painter, Attributed to the Lysippides Painter, c. 530 BCE

Terracotta neck-amphora, Greek, Attic, c. 710 BCE

Dipylon Amphora, 760-750 BCE, National Archaeological Museum of Greece, Athens , Courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh

Dipylon krater, Attributed to the Trachones Workshop, c. 725 BCE

Hellenistic Amphorae

Marble funerary stele, c. 4th century BCE,
National Archaeological Museum of Greece, Athens
Courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh

Terracotta oinochoe (wine jug), Attributed to the Chigi Group, c. 625 BC
Vase, first half of 6th century BC (made)

Black Figure amphora, Exekias, Greek, c.530-525 BCE, Vatican Museum.

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask) (2), Attributed to the Amasis Painter, c. 550–530 BCE

Terracotta neck-amphora (jar) (2) with lid and knob (27.16), Attributed to Exekias, c. 540 BCE

Signature Exekias Louvre

Death of Penthesileia, by Exekias, c. 550-543 BC, CC 4.0

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: The Ancient Greeks - Pots, Power and the Birth of a Civilisation
• 00:00:59 Historical Baggage: Reinventing the Greeks
• 00:04:35 The Greek Polis: City-States and Cosmopolitan Culture
• 00:07:06 The Bronze Age Collapse: Sea Peoples and Dark Ages
• 00:10:18 Geometric Pottery: The Ceramic Renaissance
• 00:23:02 Corinthian Innovation: New Visual Languages
• 00:26:31 The Persian Threat: Marathon and Military Culture
• 00:33:22 Black Figure Revolution: Exekias and Master Potters
• 00:43:15 Terra Sigillata: The Technology Behind the Beauty
• 00:46:20 Rebuilding Athens: Setting the Stage for Red Figure

Credits:
Hosts: Paul Greenhalgh & Stephanie Rozene
Editor: Sam Bond

Sound Mix and Engineering: Joe Little
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac

Nearly 4,000 years ago, the Minoans flourished on the island of Crete, trading across the Mediterranean and creating some of the most extraordinary ceramics of the Bronze Age.

Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh explore a world where myth and archaeology collide – from King Minos, the Minotaur and the labyrinth to the discovery of Knossos. Through monumental storage vessels, exquisite Kamares wares and spectacular octopus jars, they uncover the creativity, power and mysterious decline of one of the ancient world’s great civilisations.

If you would like to see the images from this podcast, please switch to video in your podcasting app.

Images in this programme:

Image off map of Crete, Greece and Turkey 
Terracotta vase in the form of a bull's head ca 1450 – 1400 BCE, The Met Collection
Heinrich Schliemann  (1822–1890) 
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ 
Sir Arthur Evans 1851- 1941 at Knossos
Photograph of Knossos, courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh
Reconstruction of Knossos 
Bull-Leaping Fresco found at Knossos ,1450 BC, 
Linear A inscription on a clay tablet from Hagia Triada, Crete, ca 2100 – 1450 BC 
Linear B Tablet from Knossos, ca 1375 – 1350 BC 
Procession fresco from Knossos; reconstructed by Émile Gilliéron from the late Minoan period, CC 4.0
Minoan pithos Storage jars at the Palace of Knossos, ca  1700 BCE
Large scale Caskets “bath tubs” and storage units, c.1750 BCE
Terracotta beak-spouted jar, Vasiliki ware, 2600-2200 BCE, The Met Collection
Terracotta bridge spouted jar, Minoan ware, 1900-1600 BCE, The Met Collection
Kamares Ware Jug, Protopalatial period (2100-1700 BCE). Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete, courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh
Kamares Ware Jug, Heraklion Museum, by Wolfgang Sauber, CC
Kamares wares in the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion ca 1900 - 1700 BCE photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC 1.0 license
Kamares wares jugs, Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, 1900-1700 BCE, CC 3.0
Octopus Flask ca 1500 – 1450 BCE,  Furman University,  3.0
Mycenaean-Minoan Ware, c. 1450, courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh
Terracotta jar with three handles ca 1525 – 1490 BCE,The MetCollection 
Terracotta stirrup jam with Octopus Helladic, Mycenaean, c.1200-1100 BCE, The Met Collection  

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: The Minoans - Europe's First Great Civilization
• 00:00:54 Placing the Minoans in Greek History
• 00:02:37 Island Power: Geography and the Rise of Crete
• 00:04:56 The Legend of the Minotaur and King Minos
• 00:09:15 Heinrich Schliemann: Chasing Homer's Myths
• 00:11:35 Sir Arthur Evans and the Discovery of Knossos
• 00:13:32 The Palace at Knossos: Architecture and Bull Imagery
• 00:17:48 Linear A and Linear B: Decoding Ancient Languages
• 00:20:40 Giant Pithoi: Monumental Storage Vessels
• 00:24:23 Early Minoan: Vasiliki Ware and Beak-Spouted Jars
• 00:28:15 Middle Minoan: The Glorious Kamares Ware
• 00:33:47 Late Minoan: Marine Style and Octopus Jars
• 00:36:47 The Mycenaean Question: Trade or Invasion
• 00:40:51 The Bronze Age Collapse of 1177 BC
• 00:43:45 Legacy: The First Europeans Remembered in Clay

Credits:
Hosts: Paul Greenhalgh & Stephanie Rozene
Editor: Sam Bond
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac

How did Bernard Leach’s ideas travel from a small pottery in St Ives to influence generations of potters around the world?

In the final episode of our three-part series, we follow Leach as his influence spreads beyond Britain. We explore his relationship with American potters Warren and Alix MacKenzie, his travels across the United States, and his celebrated 1952 tour with Shōji Hamada and Sōetsu Yanagi.

From Black Mountain College to the emerging American studio pottery movement, we meet artists including Marguerite Wildenhain, Karen Karnes and Peter Voulkos, and discover how a new generation embraced, challenged and transformed Leach’s ideas.

This is the story of how Bernard Leach became an international figure — and how his philosophy helped reshape studio pottery for generations to come.

If you would like to see the images featured in this podcast, please switch to video in your podcasting app.

Artworks and images in this episode:
Bernard Leach, David Leach, and students at the Leach Pottery, St. Ives, Cornwall c.1945
A Potter’s Book, by Bernard Leach, 1940
David Leach, 1911-2005
Standard Ware Bowls, Bernard Leach
Pottery Dinnerware, The LeachPottery, St. Ives
Michael Cardew, William Marshall, Bernard Leach, Picnicking at Cardew’s Pottery in 1970, Courtesy of Jeff Oestrich
Bernard Leach at Alfred University, 1950,
Warren & Alix MacKenzie, 1953,
Bowl, Warren MacKenzie, c. 1969-1970
Ceramics, Warren MacKenzie, 1924-2018
Hamada, Leach, Yanagi and Wildenhain at Black Mountain College, 1952
Sōetsu Yanagi, Bernard Leach and Shōji Hamada, 1952
Black Mountain College Seminar, 1952
Vases, Margaurite Wildenhain, c. 1940’s-50’s
Bottle Vase, Margurite Wildenhain, 1970
Vase, Bernard Leach, c. 1959
Shōji Hamada, c.1970
Sōetsu Yanagi, Bernard Leach, Rudy Autio, Peter Voulkos, Shōji Hamada, 1959
Covered Jar, Peter Voulkos, c.1954
Peter Voulkos kicking the potters wheel, 1952
Cup and Signed Box, Shōji Hamada
Robert Rauschenberg at Black Mountain College, c.1952
Bernard Leach, c.1920’s

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Bernard Leach's Later Life and International Impact
• 00:01:00 David Leach and the Standard Wares: Professionalizing the Pottery
• 00:03:09 The Apprentice Model: Learning Philosophy and Craft
• 00:05:26 Warren McKenzie: The First American Apprentice
• 00:10:29 Leach's First American Tour: Land of Money, Speed and Gadgetry
• 00:13:11 The Three Musketeers: Leach, Hamada and Yanagi Tour America
• 00:17:05 Black Mountain College: Clash of Philosophies
• 00:22:59 Hamada's Magic: Improvisation and Visual Language
• 00:25:38 Archie Bray Foundation: Meeting the Young Peter Voulkos
• 00:33:10 Legacy: Bernard Leach as Big as Wedgwood

Credits:
Hosts: Paul Greenhalgh & Stephanie Rozene
Editor: Sam Bond
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac

How did Bernard Leach turn a small pottery in St Ives into the centre of a new ceramics movement?

In the second episode of our three-part series, we follow Leach as he returns to Britain with Shōji Hamada and establishes the Leach Pottery in St Ives. We explore the challenges of those early years, the development of his distinctive approach to making, and the ideas that would eventually be captured in his influential A Potter’s Book.

As Leach’s reputation grows, so does his influence. Through teaching, writing and a new generation of apprentices, his pottery becomes a meeting place for ideas drawn from East and West.

This is the story of how Bernard Leach helped transform the status of the studio potter — and began building a movement that would reach far beyond St Ives.

To see images of the pots being discussed on this podcast, please switch to video in your podcasting apps.

Featured Artworks:

Bernard Leach 1913 early Raku Vase,   The V&A Collection

Photo of Bernard Leach with Shōji Hamada and Sōetsu Yanagi, 1952

St. Ives Harbour and Porthminster Beach - Cornwall – UK

Cornwall - St. Ives, Back Lane - 1920's Photochrom Postcard

The Leach Pottery, St. Ives, Cornwall

Blueprint of “The Leach Pottery Japanese Style of climbing Kiln. Design by Tsurunosuke Matsubayashi”, 1923. Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts

Grade II Listed Climbing Kiln, Leach Pottery

Raku Firing Kiln

Bowl, early 20’s, Bernard Leach

Barbara Hepworth & Bernard Leach, 1968, St Ives Museum

1934 (relief), Ben Nicholson, 1934, Tate

Shōji Hamada, 1894-1978

Tsurunosuke Matsubayashi, 1894-1932

D W & L K Elmhirst,' 1893-1970, Dartington Hall Trust Archive

Two Bowls by Bernard Leach and Teabowl By Shoji Hamada

Herbert Read by Mark Gerson, 1967, The National Gallery

A Potters Book by Bernard Leach, 1940

Salmon Vase, Bernard leach, 1950

Slipware Plate, Bernard Leach, c. early 1930’s

Early Slipware dish, Bernard Leach, c. early 1930’s

Early Jar with Firing crack, Bernard Leach, c. early 1930’s, courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh

Charger, 1929, Bernard Leach, courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh

The Mermaid dish, 1670-1689, Thomas Toft, The V&A Collection

A Dartington Pottery Salt Glazed Stoneware Flagon

Photo of David Leach, 1911-2005

Teapot, David Leach and Charger, Bernard Leach, courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh

Vase, c. 1959, Bernard Leach, The V&A Collection, courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh

Standard Ware, c. 1941, Bernard Leach, The V&A Collection, courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Bernard Leach Returns to England
• 00:01:30 St. Ives: A Haven for Artists and Traditional Craft
• 00:07:48 Building the Pottery: Early Struggles and Failures
• 00:14:06 Hamada's Departure and the Kiln Rebuilt
• 00:15:02 The Elmhursts and Dartington: Patronage and Philosophy
• 00:17:36 Pottery as Art: Breaking Down the Barriers
• 00:22:25 The Leach Aesthetic: Japanese Meets English Slipware
• 00:30:44 A Potter's Book: The Ceramic Bible Published
• 00:35:44 David Leach Takes Over: Professionalization and Production
• 00:36:58 Legacy: The Apprentice Model and Global Influence

Credits:
Hosts: Paul Greenhalgh & Stephanie Rozene
Editor: Sam Bond
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac

How did an English artist in Japan become one of the most influential figures in modern ceramics?

In the first of our three-part series on Bernard Leach, we explore the extraordinary early years that shaped his life and work. From his return to Japan and his first encounters with pottery to his friendship with Shōji Hamada, we discover how Japanese culture transformed Leach's understanding of what a pot could be.

This is the story of the meeting of East and West — and how the ideas Leach discovered in Japan would eventually help change the course of modern ceramics.

To see images of the ceramics being discussed in this podcast, please switch to video in your podcasting app.

Featured Artwork:

Bernard Leach and bookcase, Tokyo, 1917-1919 

Bernard Leach, A Potters Book, 1940

Bernard Leach with grandparents in Japan, c. 1890

Frank Brangwyn, by Reinhold Thiele, c 1900

John Ruskin, by W. & D. Downey, 1863

William Morris by Frederick Hollyer, 1887

Leaping Salmon Vase, c.1950, Bernard Leach; Okinawa Style Teabowl, c.1970, Shōji Hamada, Oxford Ceramics Gallery

Harmony in Blue and Gold, The Peacock Room, by James McNeill Whistler, 1834-1903, Public Domain

Temple of Heaven, Peking, 1916, printed signature in the plate Bernard Leach 1916,  Public Domain

Photograph of rural Japan, C.1900, Public Domain

Early Raku Vase, Bernard Leach, c.1925

Raku Firing Kiln

Portrait of Ogata Kenzan VI, by Bernard Leach, 1924

Mokko-shaped Food Bowl, by Uruno Shigekichi, 1881-1923

Cup, Ogata Kenzan, 18th Century

Photo of Shõji Hamada, 1894-1978

Photo of Sõetsu Yanagi, 1889-1961

Photo of Bernard Leach with Shõji Hamada & Sõetsu Yanagi, Dartington 1952

Cup and Signed Box, Shõji Hamada

Large Dish, Shõji Hamada

Stoneware Bottle, Shoji Hamada

Hamada’s Kiln in Moshiko, Creative Commons License, CC3.0

Unknown Craftsman, Sõetsu Yanagi , 1972

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Bernard Leach - The Making of a Master
• 00:03:57 Early Life: Colonial Beginnings and Artistic Awakening
• 00:12:01 The Arts and Crafts Movement: Ruskin, Morris, and Moral Philosophy
• 00:15:15 Japan's Meiji Period: Transformation and Cultural Identity
• 00:18:10 Return to Japan: Teaching Etching and Finding Community
• 00:23:52 The Raku Party: A Life-Changing Moment
• 00:27:05 Training with Kenzan VI: Entering the Japanese Pottery Tradition
• 00:28:57 Hamada and Yanagi: The Birth of Mingei
• 00:30:57 Philosophical Foundations: Arts of the People
• 00:33:30 The Bold Decision: Sailing for St. Ives

Credits:
Hosts: Paul Greenhalgh & Stephanie Rozene
Editor: Sam Bond
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac