On Friday the 13th of September, the Classical Collections Network ran a training day on Greek pottery for anyone working with collections in UK museums including (or thought to include) ancient Greek pottery. The event was kindly hosted and supported by the British Museum and benefited greatly from access to the museum’s facilities and collections.
The day started with a practical handling and identification workshop led by Thomas Mannack and Ollie Croker. Participants got the opportunity to handle pots from the British Museum’s collections, learning about key features that can help identify, date and understand the production process behind the pots. Ollie and Thomas talked about the lives of ancient potters and their customers and the vigorous scholarly debates about how much we can know about ancient pottery. The session was interactive with plenty of scope for questions arising from the objects, and participants made interesting connections with the objects in their own institutions.
Next there was a workshop on photographing Greek Pottery — Kate Whitehead discussed some of the challenges of photographing collections in volume and how to build a workflow that produces good quality pictures without taking up too much time in editing. Abi Allan explored the kit and techniques she uses when photographing Greek vase collections in National Trust Properties, with the challenges of work in historic buildings not set up for the purpose.
After lunch in the canteen, there was a session on researching Greek pottery. Ollie Croker gave an introduction to provenance research, looking at how to get from collections with little documentation to fuller object histories using local archives and publicly available resources. Abi Allan gave a talk on her work as a research consultant and discussed some of the benefits for museums of getting in an outside specialist to record and research their collections.
Vicky Donnellan and Sally Waite then led a session on exhibiting pottery. Vicky talked about the approaches taken in the British Museum’s exhibition Troy: Myth and Reality, looking at how careful design and strategic use of digital interpretation can draw attention and bring the stories on pots to life. Sally Waite explored some lower budget approaches and how the versatility of Greek pottery has allowed the Great North Museum’s collections to be re-interpreted in a range of spaces and using a wide variety of creative and academic approaches. We then went on a tour of the vase galleries of the British Museum (including some areas temporary closed to the public) to see display approaches in action and consolidate some of the themes discussed earlier in the day.
The day concluded with a discussion of institutions’ needs and the potential for similar practical training sessions on other topics in the future. There was a chance to network more informally at the pub. Thank you to everyone who attended and to colleagues who shared their expertise and the British Museum for their support.
Classical Collections Network 