Each piece is individually hand crafted from start to finish right here in our New Hampshire USA studio, and is an original work of art.

All pieces are finished in engobe (refined clay slip) or Terra Sigillata . Black parts are done in non-toxic glaze.

All pieces are 100% food and wine safe.

The Minoan culture began circa 200o-2100 BC on the island of Crete which is located at the entrance of the Aegean Sea. My work is inspired by the Minoan pottery of the what is known as the "Palace Period", which spans ca. 2100 BC to ca. 14oo BC, in particular, the "Marine Style", a style which is also found in sites all over the Eastern Mediterranean. This style is characterized by dark figures on a light background, and by detailed organic marine forms, such as squids, octopii, dolphins, and nautiluses against a backdrop of seaweed and coral reefs. The surface decoration on many of my pieces is inspired by original pieces as well as by the polychromatic colors that are seen in the restored section of the Palace of Knossos. Most of the forms are inspired by pieces of the Palace Period. The Kylix forms, (not the surface decoration) on the other hand, are copies of later Greek, or Attic forms dating from 610-390 BC.

Click HERE for more on time periods and surface decoration.

NOTE: If you see pottery that you like HERE and would like us to make you one, let us know and e-mail us the link, and Venetian Cat Studio will make it for you.

For more detailed information on vase construction, please visit Victor Bryant's "Web Tutorials for Potters" website, where you will find a virtual timeline of information, complete with detailed color photographs on ancient pottery and techniques spanning from prehistoric to Roman. This is a must see for anyone interested in the history of pottery.

(Special thanks to Mr. Bryant for generously allowing me to use his palace photo below)

KYLIXES

(Click on Thumbnails  for Larger View)

The beautiful and elegant Kylix is often seen as a triumph of the potter's art. Kylixes were used as drinking vessels for many centuries. Wine was mixed with water in a larger vessel, or krater, and ladled into the kylix. Large kylixes were used as communal drinking vessels, and often passed around during celebrations.

NOTE:  If you have a surface design in mind other than what is pictured, let us know, and we can work with you to create your vision.

Click HERE for  information page on surface decoration of ancient Classical Greek pottery.

NOTE: If you see pottery that you like HERE and would like us to make you one, let us know and e-mail us the link, and Venetian Cat Studio will make it for you.

These pieces (except for Mastos, foreground) were made for the upcoming 20th Century Fox movie Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief 

starring Pierce Brosnan and Uma Thurman, scheduled for release in 2010.

STYLE C

$130.00

MN 1001-C

Kylix:

5" Ht x 7" Diameter

(12 cm tall x 17.5 cm Diameter [not including handles])

Plain inside

STYLE D

$145.00

MN 1001-D

Kylix:

4.5" Ht x 7" Diameter

(12 cm tall x 17.5 cm Diameter [not including handles])

White Spirals inside

STYLE E

$130.00

1 IN STOCK

MN 1001-E

Deep Low-Footed Kylix:

4" Ht x 7"Diameter

(10 cm x 17.5 cm diameter [not including handles])

STYLE F

$130.00

MN 1001-F

Small Fish Kylix:

4" Ht x 6" Diameter

(10 cm tall x 15 cm Diameter [not including handles])

Dionysos Kylix

$300.00

Photo courtesy of  John D. 

8" Diameter/ 20 cm (not including handles)

Idea submitted by John D.

Virginia USA

As the god of wine, Dionysus was often identified with his wine and symbolically "poured out" for consumption by the gods. This generally occurred during sacrificial rituals when wine was poured over the parts of the animal being offered to the gods. In a way Dionysus was, then, made an offering of to the gods along with the sacrificed animal.
 

$350.00

Large Kylix:

The Ultimate "Party Bowl"

10" Diameter/ 25 cm (not including handles)

Greek Hoplite Kit, c. 6th c BCE

Greek Canteen, 4th-3rd c BCE, 7 inches (17 cm) diameter   $110.00

Canteen holds approximately 14 oz. (450 ml.)

Kothon (military mug) 9th-8th c BCE

4.5 inches (11 cm) tall     

$40.00

Black Unguent Jar, includes cork $10.00

2 inches (5cm) tall

Michelle Hildebrandt's canteen showing her strapping idea (not included, click to enlarge view)

Athanasios Porporis from Melbourne, Australia (below) in his Spartan Hoplite impression (click to enlarge)

Athanasios' Spartan Hoplite reenactment group can be seen HERE:

Photos of Originals: Osprey's "The Greek Hoplite" and "The Spartan Army"

Idea submitted by Michelle Hildebrandt, of Indiana, USA

Michelle is also an Ancient Greek Hoplite Reenactor.  Here she is shown doing a Spartan impression.

(click to enlarge view)

Courtesy of Christian Cameron's group in CANADA

front                 back

$150.00

Plate is 9.5 inches (24 cm) diameter

Use these symbols on the back or choose your own

All pieces are hand painted in colored terra sigillata and will not wash off.  100% food safe

Idea submitted by John D.

Virginia USA

Corinthian Lamp Copy: $65.00

More LAMPS

Original Lamp: Corinthian,7th c. BCE

Shown above is a modern Greek reproduction upon which  Styles A-F were based.  The shine is from the oil in the lamp.  The finish, which looked exactly like the photo on the left originally, darkened slightly from the oil.   It also leaked when used.

The Greek copy (above) was finished with paint, and sadly, the beautiful design you see here eventually burned off. 

Venetian Cat's version (left) is finished in permanenet terra sigillata just as in ancient times..  The design will last for the life of the lamp which is intended for actual use. This lamp is clear-glaze on the bottom and inside rendering it leak proof.

Corinthian

Chimera Dinner Set

(Greek, 540-510 BCE)

click to enlarge

$350.00

Pieces also available separately

(see below)

Photo of Original Plate

click to enlarge

Idea submitted by Sal Cassanti of

LEGIO III Cyrenaica

$150.00

All pieces are hand painted in colored terra sigillata and will not wash off

100% food safe

Kylix is 8 inches (20 cm) diameter

$150.00

Photo of Original Kylix

click to enlarge

Tumbler is 3 inches (7.5 cm) diameter and same in height

$50.00

Photo of Original Tumbler

click to enlarge

Mourning Athena/Hoplite Warriors Kylix

 Available in black figure/red ground (below)or

red figure/black ground styles.

Please click on thumbnails to enlarge view

Shown here:/White Ground Style Kylix, 5th c BCE

$1200.00

Surface decoration is done in terra sigillata (refined clay slip) and black glaze, and is permanent

This is a true collector's item and art piece, much like what would have been in the home of nobility in ancient times, sure to impress your friends ...

Idea submitted by John Keahey of Texas, USA

(Click to enlarge)

John doing a Greek Hoplite impression in front of a classroom

Example of a White-ground style kylix decorated with a unique representation of Apollo. The god is seated on a stool, holds his lyre in his left hand and with his right pours the libation from a bowl.
It is the work of an unknown skilled painter, dated to 480-470 B.C. .

Mourning Athena

Chigi Vase (from Peter Connolly's book "Greece and Rome at War"

8.5 1nches (21 cm) diameter

5.5 inches (13cm) height

The sources for the surface decoration are "Mourning Athena" a relief from the Greek Acropolis, now in the Athens Museum, about 460 BCE which has been copied inside the bowl, and from a 7th c BCE Corinthian vase found at Chigi, in Etruria (Etruscan Italy) along the outside.

The soldiers are marching at "double time"- in step and on the attack; a typical strategy to overrun or smash into an oncoming enemy of equal strength.

Attic Amphora Reproduction, 490 BCE

Red Figure Style

This piece is made, stone-burnished and painted entirely by hand, just like the originals.  Surface decoration done in highly refined clay slip, iron oxide and black glaze, and is permanent

Obverse: young man swaying and playing the kithara

Reverse: judge

Vase is 9 inches (20 cm) tall

$1000.00

Commissioned by Mrs. Priscilla Blue,

Massachusetts, USA

With Sincere Thanks

Original Amphora, Greek, Attic, Red-Figure, c.490 BCE

Attributed to the Berlin Painter

Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts 56.171.38

 This work is a masterpiece of Greek vase painting because it brings together many features of Athenian culture in an artistic expression of the highest quality.  The shape itself is central to the effect. *

  The identity of the singer is given by his instrument, the kithara, which was a type of lyre used in public performances, including recitations of epic poetry.  The figure on the reverse is identified by his garb and wand.  While the situation is probably a competition, the subject is the music itself.  It transports the performer, determines his pose, and causes the cloth below the instrument to sway gently.**

 *This is a “Type C” Amphora as per  Toby Shreiber, Athenian Vase Construction: A Potter’s Analysis

ISBN 0-89236-465-3

** From a card near the original vase in the Metropolitan Museum, New York

  Mastos Cup

5.5 inch (14 cm)  diameter at the mouth
approximately 3  inches (7.5 cm) deep
7  inches (17.5 cm) from handle to handle
 

("mastos" in Greek means "breast")

Plain (burnished, unglazed): $100.00

Plain,clear-glazed on inside:   $110.00

Solid satin black:$120.00

Fully Decorated (see right) $200.00

Black Handles, nipple, and banding no figures, orange body:$150.00

Please specify handle style:

1) Symmetrical (right)

2) Asymmetrical(above)

 when ordering

The "nipple" has small balls of clay inside so that the cup rattles.

Thanks to Christian and Sarah Cameron

of Toronto CANADA for this idea!

Check out Chris Cameron's Amazing Website

Photo of original showing asymmetrical handles

Reenactor drinking wine

(Courtesy Christian Cameron)

Attributed to Psiax
Greek, Athens, 520 - 510 B.C.
Terracotta
4 3/4 x 8 1/16 x 5 1/8 to 5 1/4 in.
90.AE.122

A young woman plays the double flutes on the front of this black-figure mastos or breast-shaped cup. The other side of the vase depicts a woman flourishing a branch and an ivy sprig. These objects, as well as the nebris or animal skin that she wears over one shoulder, identify this woman as a maenad, a female follower of Dionysos, the god of wine. A Dionysiac interpretation applies also to the flute-girl on the front of the mastos, who might be imagined playing for the god and his entourage, or perhaps for the humans honoring the god at a symposium or drinking party.

A mastos was designed for use at just such a symposium. The mastos was a relatively rare cup shape produced by Athenian potters only in the later 500s B.C. The shape fit in with the erotic pleasures of the symposium. Although the nipple on this mastos has been reconstructed, the potter would originally have put a pellet or bead into the nipple so that it rattled as the cup was being used, providing further entertainment.

( Above text and photos courtesy of Getty Museum, CA USA)

Boeotian Decoration on a Mastos:

$200.00

Original Boeotian Cup

GREEK/Black Figure Style Cup with Sacred Geese Design

Cup is 3 inches (7.5 cm) diameter and same in height

$35.00

This cup is not based on any one design, but rather on the Black Figure style from the 6th century BCE, where black figures were painted on a red background and incised, allowing the clay's natural color to come through. 

Click HERE for more on time periods and surface decoration.

Geese were considered sacred to Artemis, goddess of the hunt.

The black parts of the cup are glazed and are 100% food and dishwasher safe.

Greek Phiale Mesomphalos (REPRODUCTION)

(libation bowl with raised center)

Finished in black semi-gloss glaze

Bottom surface is concave to follow raised surface

Late 4th c BC

24cm x 6cm

$65.00

Photo of original, late 4th c BC

Used in Greco-Roman antiquity for poured offerings.Note the raised part in the center, or ‘omphalos,’ which means ‘navel.’

Why the raised center? Here is a possible explanation:

"This is a visible effect created at the top of the vessel corresponding to the depression below, which was its intent and the practical purpose of the device on these ‘libation bowls.’

There is no symbolical meaning or value to the ‘omphalos’ here per se.

The design of the phiale mesomphalos is purely pragmatic, although, as found in virtually all ancient Greek artifacts, even the purely practical was formed with a sense of style, elegance and beauty.

Hence, in this particularly Hellenic-styled phiale, the ‘omphalos’ may be somewhat exaggerated beyond its purely practical function in the interest of its aesthetic appeal."

(Above text graciously submitted by Tia Jonaitis of Ohio USA)

A special thank you to Charles O'Donnell of New York USA for this idea...

SOURCE:

Original Minoan Flask, 13", 1500BC

$75.00

MN 1003

Lunar/Solar Plate:

10 " (25 cm) Diameter

Comes fitted with wire, ready to hang.

MN 1004

3 Dolphins Plate:

Surface decoration is both incised and painted with engobe, which is a refined colored clay that is fired together with the piece.  It is thus molecularly bonded, and will not burn or wash off. (see detail on right)

Makes an elegant and original gift.

Comes fitted with wire, ready to hang.

10 " (25 cm) Diameter

$450.00

"Marine Style" Vase:

10" tall (25 cm)

Classical Greek form with finely painted and incised surface decoration.

Comes lined with 100% food grade beeswax and is fully watertight.

$350.00

MYC 1001

3 Handled Mycenean Vase

REPRODUCTION:

7 " (17.5 cm) tall

Comes clear-glazed on inside, but  can be coated with beeswax instead for water-tightness .

Photo of Original:

Mycenean Palace Vase, before 1400BC

Egyptian Lotus "Isis" Cup

Reproduction

Made of terra cotta with turquoise glaze (to simulate faience)

$125.00 (introductory price)

1 IN STOCK

7 inches (17 cm) tall

Thanks to Kathy,

starofthe wayshower.com

for this wonderful idea!

Photo of Original

click thumbnail to enlarge

Egyptian lotiform cup with lotus decoration
Material: Blue faience
Place of origin: Tuneh, Egypt
Date of origin: Dynasty XXVIII c. 404-399 BC
Accession number: 1722 (British Museum)

Description: FAIENCE presumably imitated the more expensive lapis lazuli, but was also seen as a magical substance because of the colour reflecting light. This chalice represents the nymphae caerula - with the flower and leaves in relief and with a stem base. The lotus was the symbol of creation, new life and also love, but also had pharmacological-medicinal functions.

NOTE:  FAIENCE is a self-glazing material, composed primarily of quartz, frit, alkali, copper and natron, or plant ash.   It is  a very challenging material to work with due to its sticky nature .

ORNATE

Egyptian Lotus Cup

Reproduction

$450.00

(Photo coming soon)

Photo of Original

click thumbnail to enlarge

Lotiform Cup; H. 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm)

 c.945–715 BC, 22nd Dynasty
Purchase, Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1926 (26.7.971)

Metroploitan Museum of Fine Art

Very similar cups are also held by Eton College's Myer's Museum

This cup, made of brilliantly glazed Egyptian faience, imitates the slender form of the blue lotus flower and is decorated in relief with scenes depicting the marshy habitat.

The fragrant blossom of the blue lotus is a common motif in all forms of Egyptian art. The water lily was valued for more than its beauty and scent: because it opened its petals to the sun each morning, it became a symbol of creation and rebirth.

Such cups were funerary offerings made to be placed in tombs.

 During the Third Intermediate Period, chalices of this shape and other faience delicacies were decorated with relief scenes evoking a constellation of myths having to do with the birth of the king as child of the sun god out of the watery marsh environment, and thus the renewal of the world out of the flooded land of each midsummer New Year.
 

Egyptian Lotus Cup

Reproduction

$100.00

$110.00 with beeswax on the inside

Great for that special cup of wine

Surfaced incised by hand, finished in

buff, red, and black Terra Sigillata

5 " Tall (13.5 cm) x

3.5" (9cm) diameter

Terra Sigillata makes the vessel watertight-but it will darken a bit when filled. 

Available with beeswax on the inside.

(See "terra sigillata care" sheet)

Original cup

18th Dynasty Egypt, 1540-1307 BC

 Found in Aniba Tomb SA30

Piece is in the University Museum,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Said to be made of faience, (Egyptian Paste) but because archeologists aren't always potters, I believe this to be incorrect.  I think that it is either made of clay with terra sigillata for the finish, OR  clay possibly with a thin coating of faience brushed over the vessel.  Julia

For more on this, see Victor Bryant's "Web Tutorials for Potters".

Thanks to Frank Garcia of Legio III Cyrenaica, for donating information, and for whom this piece was made.

Source: Freed, Rita E. Egypt's Golden Age: The Art of Living in the New Kingdom 1558 - 1085 B.C.

Genie Bottle

Painted with engobe, which is colored clay that is fired on, permanent and will not wash or peel off, and polished with a thin coating of carnauba wax on the outside, food grade 100% beeswax on the inside.

 Completely watertight

Comes with cork, (not shown)

 Genie not included ; )

Design and shape will vary slightly (as shown in photo) as each bottle is individually handmade and painted.

Color shown: "0692 Bright Blue" with "0674 Lilac" banding

Other colors are available upon request  Click HERE.

11 " (27.5 cm) Tall

Jade Cobra Perfumed Oil Flask

4" (10cm)Tall including lid

Jade green and copper glaze finish

Removable watertight stopper has hand painted and sculpted detail

Perfect for storing scented massage or precious perfumed oil.

(Perfumed oil not included)

Fit for a queen!

CANAANITE

$100.00

$110.00 with beeswax on inside

Canaanite Goblet Reproduction

5" (12.5cm) Tall x  

3" (7.5 cm) in diameter

Painted in colored Terra Sigillata on a buff clay body, the colors have been permanently fired onto the vessel and will not wash off.

Available with a coating of beeswax on the inside, recommended if drinking wine.  Without beeswax, the vessel will still hold liquid, but will "sweat", and the surface will darken and stain.

Original Goblet

Canaanite, Late Bronze Age  (c.1550-1200 BC)

Canaanite pots of the Late Bronze Age were often decorated with this stylized design of ibexes and palm trees.  This goblet was found in Lachish.

Thanks to Frank Garcia of Legio III Cyrenaica, for donating information, and for whom this piece was made.

Source: Tubb, Jonathan N. Bible Lands. ISBN 0-7894-5770-9 (hc)

ORDER