Handmade Pottery

Handmade pottery is one of the oldest crafts known to man with the earliest artistic pottery dating back to 25,000 B.C. give or take a few centuries. The first Pottery crafted for functional purposes, handmade pottery vessels, were used to hold water. All of the ancient pottery dating back before about 3,000 to 4,000 B.C. would have been hand carved pottery, meaning that it was formed or molded all by hand in a stationary manner. We know this because the first Pottery Wheel was not invented until about this time. The invention of the first Pottery wheel significantly changed how pottery was created and the new process know as 'hand thrown' created new pottery forms in many round, symmetrical and interesting shapes. Vases, bowls and cups for drinking could now be created more easily and in a more uniformed manner. Archaeologist have unearthed enough antique pottery to be able to understand the technology and skill level possessed by ancient potters.

The act of hand crafting pottery continues to be practiced today by hundreds of thousands of potters across the globe. Handmade Pottery is made for both functional purposes and for artistic expression. There are hundreds of styles and techniques available to modern day potters but they all follow the same general steps of handcrafted and hand thrown pottery. And of course because some pottery, such as Polish Pottery or Polish Stoneware, is hand painted even uniformed pottery of similar shapes and sizes can have a unique appearance. Though some modern day potters may use an electric pottery wheel as opposed to a kick wheel or manual potter's wheel the basic steps of how to make pottery have not changed in hundreds of years.