“Hellenistic Pottery has been neglected, and deservedly.”
R. M. Cook, Greek Painted Pottery (1960) 203.
“The final purpose of the study of Hellenistic and Roman pottery will have been fulfilled when its students can present to the excavator an illustrated list of dated pottery shapes systematically described and arranged for ready use in the field”,
F. O. Waagé, Hellenistic and Roman Tableware of North Syria, Antioch on the Orontes IV, 1:
Ceramics and Islamic Coins (Princeton 1948) 4.
“Jadis interessée par de beaux objets rares, l’archéologie s’attache volontiers maintenant à l’étude de matériels moins prestigieux, mais souvent plus capables de nous informer sur divers aspects économiques et sociaux du monde antique”,
Ph. Bruneau, Les lampes et l’histoire économique et sociale de la Grèce, in: Céramiques hellénistiques et
romaines, Annales Litteraires de l’Université de Besançon 242. CRHA 36 (Paris 1980) 19.
Dear colleagues,
Our understanding of Hellenistic pottery today is still far from the basic wish expressed by F. O. Waagé in 1948. This is due in part to archaeological priorities and evaluations that remain similar to that of R. M. Cook, quoted above, though he wrote these lines over half a century ago. We nonetheless believe that detailed study of “matériels moins prestigieux” can definitely provide answers to even complex questions about the ancient world, as Ph. Bruneau noted in 1980. For this reason, it is time to work in an organized fashion to intensify the study of Hellenistic pottery.
With the formation of the IARPotHP and its declaration as a registered Association (e.V.) in the fall of 2011, the first step has been taken towards a working international organization, one that will gather specialists in the pottery of the Hellenistic period and support their scientific research.
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