1887
Famous Native American potter
10,000-7,000 BCE
Jomon pottery is created
with hand-building
techniques in Japan.
14,000 BCE
First clay tiles are made
in Mesopotamia
and India.
29,000–25,000 BCE
The oldest known ceramic
article in the world, Venus of
Dolní Věstonice, is created.
Maria Martinez, known for
1600s black ware pottery is born.
575 BCE Baked-clay bricks and tiles
The glazed brick are made in colonial Virginia
Ishtar Gate is created and Pennsylvania.
as a gate to the inner
city of Babylon.
800s
Tin-glazed pottery
originates in Iraq.
620-480 BCE 1800s
Greece’s black-figure pottery is The Arts & Crafts
produced. Red-figure pottery movement spurs
follows after. handcrafted pottery in
both the US and the UK.
1500s
Delftware begins to
be produced in the
Netherlands.
6,000-4,000 BCE 1723
Early form of the potter’s Rococo figurine sculptor, 1960s
wheel is invented in Franz Anton Bustelli, is A surge of US ceramic
Mesopotamia. born. studios open with artist
like Beatrice Wood and
618–907 Robert Arneson at the
Porcelain is invented forefront.
1759
during the Chinese
Josiah Wedgwood
T’ang dynasty.
opened his first pottery
factory in central 1925
England. Nigerian potter Ladi
221–207 BCE Kwali, known for her
The Terra Cotta Army is hybrid of traditional
created during the reign African with western
of Shihuangdi, the founder studio pottery is born.
of China’s Qin dynasty.
2700 BCE
Egyptians discover glaze.
By 1500 BCE, vibrant blue and
green glazes were being used.
A Brief History of Ceramics