page_title: Minoan art
section_title: EM II-III Wares
hierarchical_section_title: Minoan art / Pottery / EM II-III Wares
caption_attribution_description: English: Vasiliki ware, "tea-pot", with characteristic mottled decoration, created by controlled firing in te petter's kiln. Found at Vasiliki in Ierapetra, where there was a flourishing town which was destroyed by fire (uncontrolled...) circa 2200 BCE. The area is considered the main centre of this particular vessel type. Vasiliki, 2400 - 2200 BCE.Français&#160;: Poterie de Vasiliki, type "théière", à décor tacheté caractéristique, obtenu par contrôle de la cuisson dans le four. Trouvé à Vasiliki, Iérapetra, où se trouvait une cité florissante détruite par un incendie vers 2200 CE. La région est considérée comme le centre principal de production de ce type d'objets. Vasiliki, 2400 - 2200 BCE. Heraklion Archaeological Museum &#160;&#160;Native nameΑρχαιολογικό Μουσείο ΗρακλείουLocationHeraklion, GreeceCoordinates35°&#160;20′&#160;22.34″&#160;N, 25°&#160;08′&#160;14″&#160;E &#160;Established1883Web pageheraklionmuseum.gr&#160;Authority control : Q636972 VIAF:&#8201;158400708 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0001 2260 1622 ULAN:&#8201;500300551 LCCN:&#8201;n89629636 GND:&#8201;2068055-7 WorldCat institution QS:P195,Q636972
context_page_description: Minoan art is the art produced by the Minoan civilization from about 2600 to 1100 BC.
  The largest collection of Minoan art is in the museum at Heraklion, near Knossos, on the northern coast of Crete. Minoan art and other remnants of material culture, especially the sequence of ceramic styles, have been used by archaeologists to define the three phases of Minoan culture.
  Since wood and textiles have decomposed, the best-preserved surviving examples of Minoan art are its pottery, palace architecture, stone carvings and intricately-carved seal stones.
context_section_description: In the first phase of Early Minoan, the Aghious Onouphrios ware is most common. Vasiliki ware is found in East Crete during the EM IIA period, but it is in the next period, EM IIB, that it becomes the dominant form among the fine wares throughout eastern and southern Crete. Both styles contain a reddish wash. However, Vasiliki ware has a unique mottled finish that distinguishes it from the EM I styles pottery. At times this mottled finish is deliberate and controlled and at others it seems uncontrolled. Like EM I, a variety classifications of Pottery emerged during this period. Koumasa ware is a development of Aghious and Lebana styles of pottery and was prominent in EM IIA, prior to Vasiliki wares' increased popularity. Additionally, gray wares continued to be produced throughout EMII and a Fine Gray class of wares emerges. The Fine Gray class follows the trend of the majority of EM II pottery and is a remarkably higher quality than previous wares.
  EM III, the final phase of the early Minoan period, is dominated by the White-On-Dark class. Some locations have been discovered that housed over 90% White-On-Dark ware. The class utilizes complex spirals and other ornate patterning that have naturalistic appearances. But not all producers of these wares used these patterns at the same time. Rather, the motifs caught hold over an extended period of time. These developments set the mood for the new classes that would emerge in the Middle Minoan period.
  EM II-III are marked by a refining of the techniques and styles of pottery that emerged and evolved during EM I and these refinements would ultimately set the themes for the later works of Minoan and Mycenaean pottery.
caption: Vasiliki Ware
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "SONY DSC", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSLR-A550", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.8.14", "Image DateTime": "2015:03:01 16:52:29", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "788", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5642", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/40", "EXIF FNumber": "5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:02:23 11:10:54", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:02:23 11:10:54", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "665241/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "290241/62500", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "9/4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "217/50", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "45", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "64303699/32768", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "64303699/32768", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "67", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Hard", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Hard"}