For many years, it has been argued that faience underwent dramatic technological changes from the Middle Kingdom (2040–1640 BC) to the New Kingdom (1570–1070 BC) in Egypt. These technological developments are said to include changes in the sources of some of the key ingredients of faience production, including the silica, alkali, and colourant. However, the proposed technological changes are broad generalizations and, in the case of some faience bead assemblages, they appear to be non-existent. This thesis considers the reasons for the developments in faience production, and focuses on the changes themselves by analysing the chemical composition of faience beads from the Middle to the New Kingdom at the site of Abydos. This research focuses on a sample of 151 beads, dating from the Middle Kingdom to the New Kingdom, which were found during John Garstang’s early 20th Century excavations. All aspects of the beads were investigated in order to establish the production methods used – this was, in essence, reverse engineering of the beads. The investigation was accomplished with a combination of established and innovative analytical methods, some of which had not been tested on faience material before. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to determine changes in the microstructure, and led to an understanding of the glazing methods used in the production of the beads. Energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) was used to test the chemical composition of the samples. Strontium isotope analysis was conducted to identify the raw material sources of the alkali used in the production of the beads. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was undertaken to determine the firing temperatures reached during production, and crystallography (CL) was undertaken to determine the silica source. Once these analyses were complete the archaeological samples were experimentally replicated and analysed. All of the results were then interrogated in order to prove, scientifically, whether or not Egyptian faience technology really underwent change from one period to the next.

This practice-based research deals with an archaeological material known today as 'Egyptian faience'; it was described as 'the first high-tech ceramic' (Vandiver and Kingerey, 1987). Faience has long been overlooked and yet it played a significant role in the development of the art and science of both ceramics and glass. Faience objects were made mainly from the early fourth millennium BC until the late Roman period in the 7th century AD, though a few rare faience workshops survive today. The friable nature and the poor plasticity of the faience paste presented major challenges to craftsmen in terms of their ability to produce successful faience artefacts. Nevertheless, ancient craftsmen managed to overcome these problems and created fabulous objects of art by using and developing various making methods, that they adapted to the material. This study attempts to shed light on these manufacturing techniques, particularly through close examination of archaeological artefacts from a sculptor/ceramicist's perspective. It also considers issues of the raw materials, their preparation and their processing, as well as the technological choices and challenges faced by the faience-makers. The project combines fundamental and structured experimental work with analytical studies of the faience samples. The cross sections of the samples were studied under a scanning electron microscope, which supplied the research with significant information on the microstructure of the material and the chemistry of its glaze formation. The artwork created for this research project was informed by the research findings and was designed to explore the characteristic elements of the faience material and to investigate its potentials and its limitations in contemporary ceramic practice. The ethno-archaeological study of a surviving faience workshop in Iran, which was carried out during this research, provided a rare opportunity to explore and document the cementation method of faience production within the context of a traditional workshop. This was especially valuable in the light of our new understanding of faience technology.

The Preface enumerates the publications in which the Acheloos Painter is discussed by Beazley, from which it is clear that he thought of the painter as a member of the Leagros Group, but nonetheless distinct from them in having a humourous approach to his work which they lack. It is also suggested that from the point of view of the attribution of some of the vases more vaguely associated with the painter, it would be fruitful to pay attention to some of his own second-rate work. Chapter 1 describes the Acheloos Painter's graphic style, figure work, subsidiary patterns, and interest in foreshortening, and discusses his methods of composition. His use of two distinct head types is related to the contexts in which they appear. Some of the more loosely associated vases are attributed to five separate hands who relate closely to the Acheloos Painter, as does the Painter of Louvre F 314. Some new attributions are made to the Acheloos Painter himself, and his immediate stylistic background within the Leagros Group is discussed. A chronology based on his style is offered. Chapter 2 establishes a chronology based on the changes in pot shapes over the period of the Acheloos Painter's activity, and relates him to the painters with whom he shared a potter, which shows a clear pattern for his career. Chapter 3 offers a chronology conflating the charts based on style and potting. Chapter 4 compares the Acheloos Painter's choice of subjects and pairing of them on vases with more than one picture with the practice of the Leagros Group, the Pioneers, and the Antimenes Painter. The iconography of the Acheloos Painter's vases is discussed in detail subject by subject, and compared with other versions of the same subject by the Leagros Group and in earlier black figure. Chapter 5, the Conclusion, describes the Acheloos Painter's career and ethos on the basis of the evidence offered in the preceding chapters, and suggests that his interests were in the content of his pictures, and the two head types discussed in Chapter 1 were used for a specific purpose, whether political in intention or not. In any case, used in conjunction with an idiosyncratic iconography, they represent a deliberate dissociation from the practice of his workshop colleagues.

This thesis deals with a distinct group of Aegean pottery from the Late Bronze Age known as the Octopus Style, and in particular the Octopus Style stirrup jar, which constitutes the overwhelming majority of the group. Richly and variously decorated, they were produced widely across the Aegean. Sometimes exported or imitated, large and decorative, their presumed function as an object of display and their prestigious character accord with their find contexts. These vases are thus an important source of evidence for understanding the new circumstances in the region after the collapse of the Mycenaean palace system, particularly in relation to Crete, from where they largely owed their inspiration. Aiming first to define the predecessor of the Octopus Style, Late Minoan IIIB octopus- painted vases are examined stylistically and contextually. The study proposes a clearer idea about the painted designs of the Octopus Style produced in each region through a rigorous comparison of the material in order to construct a more concrete picture of regional characteristics and stylistic relationships between each regional group. Design elements on the Octopus Style stirrup jars are systematically described and compared and the relevant stratigraphical and contextual evidence examined to establish the sequence of stylistic development. By taking this approach, it was possible to discern several stylistic groups within each regional group and six phases of development in the Octopus Style stirrup jar, which started and virtually ended with the Late Minoan IIIC period. Through these phases, the stylistic relationships between the regional groups are not constant. A strong influence from Crete is evident on the earliest Rhodian and Naxian Octopus Style, whereas during later phases, mainland stylistic features are more visible than before. On this basis, important changing local power relationships and competing fashions between Aegean societies may be inferred from this decorative pottery.

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This thesis examines a group of terracotta sculptures attributed to an artist known as the Master of the Unruly Children. The name was coined by Wilhelm von Bode, on the occasion of his first grouping seven works in Berlin and London. Due to the distinctive characteristics of his work, this personality has become a mainstay of scholarship in Renaissance sculpture. Chapter One examines the historiography in connoisseurship from the late nineteenth century to the present and explores the idea of the scholarly “construction” of artistic identity. Repeated attempts to establish historical identities for our Master have resulted in the unique characteristics of our corpus remaining undefined, and the context in which the sculptures were produced inadequately established. Chapter Two surveys the Florentine tradition and highlights a practice of copying that is evident in the corpus and indicative of common workshop production. New classifications into which the corpus (Appendix I) is divided are proposed. Despite the singularity of subject matter associated with our Master an analysis of the iconography of the sculptures has never been carried out. Chapter three connects the works of our Master to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the humanist revival of antiquity, debates on the Church, notions of Charity, and the politics of Florence.

Despite many years work on the technology of pottery production by archaeologists it is perhaps surprising that the origins of the potter’s wheel in Egypt have yet to be determined. This present project seeks to rectify this situation by determining when the potter’s wheel was introduced to Egypt, establishing in what contexts wheel-made pottery occurs, and considering the reasons why the Egyptians introduced the wheel when a well-established handmade pottery industry already existed. The potter’s wheel is often thought to have originated in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium B.C. and subsequently its use spread to the Levant and Egypt, but little analysis has been undertaken as to why this occurred, or how its use came to be so widespread. Through a thorough analysis of all available sources, such as manufacturing marks on pottery, provenance potter’s wheels and depictions of potters in art and texts this thesis will assess the evidence for the introduction of the potter’s wheel. Through examining manufacturing marks on pottery and determining characteristics of wheel made marks by comparing them to experimental examples it is hoped a more complete view of when and in what manner the Egyptians were manufacturing their pottery vessels on the wheel will be gained. The potter’s wheel is arguably the most significant machine introduced into Egypt during the Old Kingdom, second only perhaps to the lever. This thesis concludes that the potter’s wheel was introduced to Egypt from the Levant during the reign of Pharoh Sneferu in the 4th dynasty (c.2600 B.C.). Sneferu or a member of his court sponsored their potters to use the elite-stone basalt potter’s wheel in and entirely new way, to throw pottery. The impact of this innovation would not just have affected the Egyptian potters themselves learning a new skill but also signalled the beginnings of a more complex and technologically advanced society.

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This thesis, in two volumes, deals with the Late Helladic I pottery from the southwestern Peloponnesos, Greece. It is a study of its origins, development and local variations. All wares (whether painted or unpainted) produced in this part of the Peloponnesos during LH I are considered; particular emphasis is put on the examination of the fine decorated ware; imports, wherever identifiable, are also dealt with. The text volume (Vol.I) consists of the Introduction and chapters I-V accompanied by an Appendix, a number of tables and a List of Abbreviations, as well as Bibliography. The ceramic material discussed in the text volume is illustrated in Volume II, in which a list of figures is also included.

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