Surviving ceramic vessels from tombs, caves, and various locations around the globe reveal the earliest human creative endeavors. By examining ceramics, historians gain insights into how societies organized themselves and interacted with other cultures. Today, ceramic arts continue to thrive as contemporary artists draw on this material history to honor their heritage while crafting new narratives from clay. This volume explores ceramics as an artistic medium that captures and conveys our individual and collective experiences across cultures, from pre-Columbian Andean tombs to modern African sculpture. It features an introduction and conclusion by Sequoia Miller, chief curator at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art and a practicing ceramic artist, alongside three main essays. Art historian Margaret Graves provides an overview of diverse ceramic histories and their regional and global influences. Conservator Victoria Parry discusses the preservation challenges these artworks face, while studio potter Magdalene Odundo offers insights from a contemporary practitioner's perspective. Additionally, three case studies, organized chronologically from ancient to contemporary, create innovative dialogues between objects across time and geography. This volume is the inaugural title in the ART/WORK series, which aims to reshape the narratives of art history.
