Charles and Linda Riggs on sun 8 sep 02
Burnished blackened ware is found in archeological sites around the world. What
makes it specific to native americans is their particular designs which has meaning
in their culture.
Catalhoyuk, an ancient site in Turkey (circa 8000-6000 BC) has some beautiful
shards of satin burnished blackened pottery with intricate geometric designs.
The Natural History Museums in various countries show hundreds of burnished
blackened pots with designs reflecting their own artistic preferences. Burnishing
was common method of sealing pots for use, and also ended up making them beautiful.
So....go make some blacken ware pots....just make them yours. Of if you want to
echo your own cultural heritage, search for ancient pottery designs from whatever
corner of the earth your most recent gene-pool has descended from. There's a lot of
ancient pots all over the world to provide inspiration.
Linda
vince pitelka on sun 8 sep 02
> Burnished blackened ware is found in archeological sites around the world.
> > What makes it specific to Native Americans is their particular designs
which
> have meaning in their culture.
Linda Riggs is of course correct on this - cultures all over the world made
blackware. There are beautiful examples from China, ancient Egypt, the
Pre-Roman Etruscan culture (bucchero wares), Pre-Columbian Central and South
America (especially the Chavin and Chimu cultures in Peru), and others.
Maria Martinez did not invent the blackware process, and other cultures have
used a similar black-on-black decorating process, but Maria practiced both
so beautifully in a highly original way, using imagery that is sacred to her
culture.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@worldnet.att.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
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