The next few rounds of this journal come with a very big tip of the hat to Robert Hunter and his 2014 edition of Ceramics in America. Rob asked this edition’s contributors to each compile a ‘top ten’ list of ceramic items using whatever criteria was relevant to their perspective situations.
The resulting lists offer an inspired and surprising overview of ceramic history and beyond – and they motivated me to come up with my own list. So now I look across centuries and continents, following pottery’s intimate role in the long parade of human development.
Many of my selections are indicative of a certain time, place, or topic. Other items could have been substituted. And of course some selections are, inescapably, personal favorites or items that have particularly impacted my life.
I highly encourage anyone interested in this topic to get a copy of Ceramics in America 2014, and to put some time into configuring your own list. The results will be impressive.
My ‘greatest hits’ aren’t necessarily chronological or geographical. And ranking them for overall importance would be an impossibly arbitrary effort. They are presented, mainly, in no particular order – except the first one…
Reading:
Ceramics in America, 2014. Robert Hunter, ed. Chipstone Press/UNH. 2014.
This Day in Pottery History 
February 16, 2015 at 2:28 pm |
SO….what is your list?
February 16, 2015 at 2:50 pm |
I was thinking of doing an item a week, as they’ll need a bit of explanation which would make for a long single entry. Kinda like that old Sonny and Cher song: “and the beat goes on…”