Nikos Liaros, Ceramics of Chios, 17th-19th century, Angelos Vlastaris Collection, Kapon editions, Athens 2021, Greek-English (bilingual), 240 pages, ISBN: 978-618-5209-83-4.
The core of this volume is the collection of Chian pithoi and pithos lids belonging to Angelos Vlastaris. The book also contains important ceramics from other collections, as well as a wealth of archive material. Its scope is not limited to the study of the pottery alone; it also aims to present a tangible picture of the great cultural and social flowering of Chios before the Massacre of 1822.
The ceramics presented here were crafted in recent centuries but touch upon a medieval past. Their crude construction, their shape and their decoration are all features of Byzantine pithoi, attesting to an unbroken ceramic tradition. Their technical and morphological features indicate a standardised technological chaîne opératoire and a specific way of learning the craft. What is striking, however, about them is the plethora of inscriptions, dates, Christian symbols and decorative motifs found on them. These ceramics express the general outward-looking spirit, the cultural and religious freedom of the period. They provide a vivid picture of their time, and, being inextricably linked with it, ended with its passing, in 1822.
Proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to a non-profit institution for the study and promotion of modern Greek ceramics.
About the author
Nikos Liaros is an archaeologist and ceramist. Born in Athens in 1974, he studied Archaeology and Art History at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, followed by a postgraduate degree at the University of Crete. Since 2004, he has worked for the Greek Archaeological Service, carrying out excavations and curating museum exhibitions. He acquired the skill of pottery-making from the traditional potters of Koroni and Crete. Since 2008, he has been Curator at the Centre for the Study of Modern Ceramics.
