The First Pot

What if a pot could be read like a book? In the second part of their journey through Mesoamerica, Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh travel to the great ancient city of Cholula – a bustling centre of trade, pilgrimage and cultural exchange – to explore the extraordinary ceramics of the Mixtec-Puebla tradition. Painted with gods, symbols and intricate bands of imagery, these highly prized vessels transformed clay into a sophisticated visual language that could communicate across cultures and linguistic barriers. From stories of warfare and sacrifice to sunlight, death and the worship of the gods, they reveal a world in which ceramics could be read as well as admired. Traded across vast distances, these remarkable pots offer a glimpse into the beliefs, rituals and interconnected cultures of Mesoamerica – and lead us towards the rise of the Aztec Empire. Chapters

Journey into the extraordinary world of the Classic Maya, where ceramics were far more than objects for everyday use; they were vessels for food, status, storytelling, ritual and belief. Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh explore the golden age of Maya ceramics, discovering how skilled potters created sophisticated hand-built vessels without the potter’s wheel. From humble cooking pots used to prepare maize to beautifully painted polychrome vessels and prized cacao cups, ceramics offer a remarkable window into Maya life. They uncover the profound relationship between food and mythology, including the Maya creation story in which the first humans were made from corn, and explore how gods, rulers and ancient stories were painted across the surfaces of pots. They also enter the dramatic world of the Maya ball game, where sport, political power, sacrifice and the struggle between life and death became intertwined. Beautiful, complex and sometimes unsettling, these surviving ceramics allow us to glimpse a civilisation in which the everyday and the sacred were inseparable – and where a simple clay vessel could tell the story of the cosmos. Chapters

In the second of two episodes, Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh follow Peter Voulkos through the explosive years that transformed him from master potter into one of the most radical figures in modern ceramics. From the experimental studios of Otis and Berkeley to his monumental Blackwares, stacks and platters, Voulkos tears, cuts, pounds and rebuilds clay, pushing it far beyond the traditional vessel. His performances become legendary, while a generation of students go on to reshape American ceramics themselves. But behind the charismatic “wild man” lies a more complicated story of addiction, recovery and relentless creativity. Stephanie and Paul explore Voulkos’s later years and the extraordinary legacy of an artist who changed not simply how ceramics looked, but what clay could be. Featured Images: Rocking Pot, 1956, Peter Voulkos. Pot Shop, UC Berkeley, c. 1960s, Jim Melchert. Last Temptation of Ming, 2015, Ron Nagle. Blue Face with White Stripe, 1971, Stephen De Staebler. Looking at Pictures, 2016, Mary Heilmann. Installation View of “New Talent XIII”, 1960, Peter Voulkos. Peter Voulkos at Work in the Faith and Charity in Hope Gallery, 1984, Peter Voulkos. Sunset Rip, 2008, Mary Heilmann. Paul Soldner’s MFA Show, 1956, Paul Soldner, Peter Voulkos and John Mason. Arlene Schechet in the Jewish Museum, 2018, Sara Wasserman. Peter Voulkos at Work, by Stephanie Rozene Installation View of Voulkos: The Breakthrough Years, [date unknown], Butcher Walsh. Untitled Chicken Pot, 1958, Peter Voulkos. The New York Times, 2021. Little Big Horn, 1959, Peter Voulkos. ientos, 1959, Peter Voulkos. Sitting Bull, 1959, Peter Voulkos. Annon, 1959, Peter Voulkos. Photograph by E. G. Schempf, Museum of Arts and Design. Pauline Annon, circa 1950, Estate of Pauline Anon Peter Voulkos at Work, c. 1960s, Pinatubo, 1994, Peter Voulkos. Ice Bucket, [date unknown], Peter Voulkos. Bronze Ice Bucket, 1986, Peter Voulkos. Iron Head, 1979, Peter Voulkos. Selfies at the V and A, Stephanie Rosine and Paul Greenhalgh Chapters

What happens when a master potter decides to break all the rules? In the first of two episodes, Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh explore the life and work of Peter Voulkos, the artist who helped transform American ceramics after the Second World War. From his Montana childhood and wartime service to his first encounter with clay, Voulkos begins as a brilliantly skilled traditional potter. But through teachers, fellow artists and the experimental world of 1950s America, he starts cutting, tearing and rebuilding clay in radically new ways. By the mid-1950s, pottery was becoming sculpture and a revolution in clay was underway. To see the images from this podcast, please switch to video in your podcasting app. Featured Images: Photo of Voulkos doing pottery by Stephanie Rozene Photo Filming Voulkos at work, by Stephanie Rozene Voulkos Correcting a student, Stephanie Rozene. VOulkos nished platers on table, Stephanie Rozene Photo of John Balistreri assisting Peter Voulkos. 1990s (Creative Commons) Voulkos at Potters wheel, ca. 1956 Photo of Frances Senzka smiling Photo of Edith Heath, Date Unknown, (Wikipedia) Photograph of Maija-Grotell-1920s (Wikiedpia) Marguerite finishing a vase, ca.1950s. 1998 Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona Foundation Face Vessel, ca. 1970s, Marguerite Wildenhain Archie Bray and Rudy Autio photograph, ca. 1951 Photograph of Frances Senska and her pots, 1988, Linda Best photo / Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Chicken and Wine Set, 1960, Frances Senzka Ya Ba Bo jar, 1970, Frances Senzka Bottom of Ya Ba Bo jar, 1970, Frances Senzka Peter Voulkos Painting his Ceramics, ca. 1950s Ceramic National Piece, 1950, Peter Voulkos ???? Gourd Shaped Vases, Vases with Leaf, Green-Swirled Vases, 1952, Peter Voulkous Archie Bray Putting Soda in Beehive Kiln ca. 1950s Yanagi, Leach, Autio, Voulkous and Hamada at the Archie Bray Foundation Voulkos kicking the wheel for Hamada at Archie Bray Foundation, 1952 Karen Karnes, (1925-2016), Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina David Weinrib, (1924 – 2016) Robert Rauschenberg at Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, NC, United States, circa 1951. Photo: Cy Twomble M.C Richards (1914 – 1999) Wikipedia Picture Untitled Stoneware with Acrylic Paint, ca. 1953, MC Richards Collaboration with Peter Voulkos Covered Jar, 1953, Peter Voulkos Jackson Pollock at work – photograph by Hans Namuth (Wikipedia) Marguerite Wildenhaine, ca. 1962, Wikipedia page. Rocking Pot, 1956 Peter Voulkos (Smithsonian ART Museum) Peter Voulkos working, ca. 1960. Tony Prieto Tall Vase, Stoneware, 1950. The Everson Museum of Art. Photo credit Stephanie Rozene. Chapters

The story of Greek ceramics continues with a revolution in pottery. Around 530 BC, Athenian potters began turning the familiar world of black-figure decoration on its head, creating the extraordinary red-figure vessels that would come to define Classical Greek ceramics. Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh explore the potters, workshops and innovations behind this transformation, and discover how ceramics became part of everyday Greek life – from wine-drinking symposia to sporting prizes and simple household wares. As Greek influence spreads across the Mediterranean, so too do its ceramic traditions, before a new power emerges: Rome. Yet conquest would not bring the story to an end. The Romans absorbed and reinvented Greek forms, ensuring their influence would survive for centuries. Please switch to video in your podcasting app, to see the pots being spoken about in this episode. Featured Artworks: Black Figure Amphore, Attributed to Group E (British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Red Figure amphora, signed by Andokides, c.530 BCE Terracotta amphora (jar) Red Figure bell krater, Anonymous, often referred to as by the Berlin Painter, Greek, c.480 BCE, Louvre Museum. Anonymous, possibly Apulian, possibly Boeotian, 480 BCE Francois Vase, Black Figure krater, decorated by Kleitias, made by Ergotimos, Greek, 570-560 BCE, Archaeological Museum, Florence. (CC 3.0) Terracotta kyathos (cup-shaped ladle), Attributed to the Group of Berlin 2095, c. 530–500 BCE Terracotta amphora (jar), Attributed to the Orvieto Painter, c. 540 BCE Small terracotta amphora (jar), Greek, Attic, c. 800–750 BCE Terracotta neck-amphora (storage jar), Greek, Corinthian, c. 620–590 BCE Terracotta neck-amphora (jar), Attributed to the Edinburgh Painter, c. 500 BCE Terracotta neck-amphora (jar) with lid and knob (27.16), Attributed to Exekias, c. 540 BCE Terracotta lekythos (oil flask), Attributed to the Amasis Painter, c. 550–530 BCE Terracotta column-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), Attributed to Lydos, c. 550 BCE Terracotta Nolan neck-amphora (jar), Attributed to the Ethiop Painter, c. 450 BCE Terracotta neck-amphora (jar) with twisted handles, Attributed to the Lykaon Painter, c. 440 BCE Terracotta amphora (jar), Attributed to the Berlin Painter, c. 490 BCE Terracotta skyphos (deep drinking cup), Greek, Attic mid-5th century BCE Chapters