The History of Ceramics The use of ceramic molds in pottery to produce ceramics by slab-casting clay into a ceramic mold first appeared in the Hellenistic period. The use of plaster molds in ceramics to produce ceramic objects with slab or slip clay occurred much later (for the first time in the mid-18th century in England). The mold, in addition to boosting the production process, also assisted the potter by finely incising designs transferred to the pottery and filling them with color. The first imprinting materials used by humanity were clay, plaster, and wax.
The first materials used to model and The development of ceramic technolreproduce copies were again clay, ogy goes hand in hand with the inplaster, and wax. vention of the wheel and the development of pyrotechnology. It is easy to see, therefore, that model-making and modeling are often The development of pyrotechnology, combined or confused without distin- in both ceramics and metallurgy, guishing which came first. helped to control the temperature of the kilns and to achieve reducing or Thus, for example, the relief decora- oxidizing conditions according to the tion of an article of pottery requires a needs of the ancient craftsperson. mold, whereas the incised decoration of a mortar requires a model. In Mesopotamia initially and in Egypt afterward, we see the transition from The art of working clay, from molding open fires to kilns. to firing, is called ceramics. Ceramic products can range from simple utiliBy firing the ceramics, these civilizatarian objects to highly aesthetic tions were able to raise temperatures works of art. to reduce porosity and to color and glaze the ceramic.
The History of Gypsum At the same time as the discovery of fired pottery and in the same region (Asia Minor and the Near East), the first evidence of the use of plaster appears. The use of gypsum, with the maturation of societies and technology, passed from the Eastern Mediterranean to areas with fewer gypsum deposits. In Gaul, despite the abundance of deposits, knowledge of its use arrived with Roman occupation. To discover the properties of fired (baked) gypsum, all that was needed was a hearth that maintained a steady fire in a soil containing mineral gypsum.
Evidence of this use appears on the plastered walls and raised reliefs in the sanctuary of the temple of Catal Hoyuk.
It gave a more realistic rendering of The region of Jericho was called, in the funerary portraits, differentiating the 7th millennium BC, "the people in them from the usual funerary masks. the plaster ground." At Jericho, during an excavation in 1953 by Kathleen Kenyon, a piece of a human skull appeared in the walls of a trench. The face was coated in plaster, with much realism and with the eyes molded in color. The first evidence (around 6500 BC) of the use of plaster is found in the sculptures discovered in the Ain Ghazal area of Jordan.
The fire imparted the required dehydration to the mineral and all that was Subsequent excavations (1983) left was a rain and a tread on it. brought to light a total of seven Quickly the molded material took the specimens which were dated to around 6500 BC. form of a hard and insoluble crust. Plaster, moreover, having the advantage of whiteness over clay, was also used as a decorative coating in relief.
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The most important achievement of the period was the use of plaster as an imprinting material.
These seven heads should be regarded as the first true funerary portraits.
The most important evidence of the event was also located in the same place. The next find came from Susa and was much younger (2nd millennium BC). It is an independent portrait found in a tomb resting next to the deceased. Hedi Slim, excavation director at El Jem, Tunisia, found the workshop of a 3rd century AD cast craftsman. In it he found a sufficient number of molds—casts of human faces and animals.
