Every day I go to work, I am reminded repeatedly of how lucky I am to be physically interacting with Princeton's collection. Although all of their complete, phenomenal pieces are on display in museums across Cyprus, there are still plenty of things for me to become acquainted with....I am a kid in a candy shop.
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My favorite by far is the coral red gloss found on many Athenian vases. The feeling of the slip is so fine, and the color so brilliant, there is no need for excessive decoration. Simplicity at its best.   |
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| On this beautiful black-figure fragment you can see the repair hole in the lower center. More expensive ceramics, if broken, were patched back up by drilling holes in the broken pieces and binding them together with a type of cord. |
One of my favorite pieces is on the left - the fragmentary base shows a number of punctured holes - indicating it was probably used as a strainer.
Although incomplete in structure, these pieces display the remarkable variety of functions ancient ceramics were used for - and how, even a strainer, could act as a canvas for artistic expression.
