This biconical urn was found in a burial mound near Amesbury, Wiltshire. The urn was from the Bronze age which dates 1900-1500BC.
While visiting Salisbury Museum, I became interested in this artefact because of the materials used to create it and the idea that it has gone full circle while still staying within 10 miles of the clay’s original placement. The urn would have been hand built by a craftsperson within the area, the tools used to make it included a horseshoe and finger mark making. I think this decoration illustrates how simplistic but effective design can be. The tools were minimal, and the shape is simple but there is a sense of power and strength that this artifact holds. This could be due to its role as a vessel which is to hold the ashes of the dead and therefore it definitely deserves a strong structure and traditional shape.
In other areas of the museum, I was able to learn more about the history of ceramics in Salisbury. There was a pottery in Laverstock during the medieval period, even though this was after the bronze age this pottery says a lot about the area. In order to have a working pottery such materials including fuel, clay and water need to be in abundance. This allows a conclusion to be made that within the Salisbury area there has always been these materials. This pottery helped aid the growth of the city, since it aids trade and gives people a reason to travel there and support the community there at the time.
In response to visiting this museum I went home, dug up and processed my own clay. I wanted to create a vessel which I could relate to in a way that the craftspeople would have done thousands of years ago. The technique of processing clay has not changed over this period of time, the idea is to get out the impurities and have a pure a form as possible. I did this by drying and crushing the clay and then pouring the powder through a sieve.
In my sketchbook I was able to design an urn shape using the artifact as a reference, I wanted to mimic the simplistic structure and limited decoration. On the wheel I threw a vessel and later added a lid which linked with the secondary research I did looking at ceramic decoration.
I was happy with the urn that I created, instead of using clay from my home I used clay from Kings Cross and the clay from my home to make the lid. I think this created a perfect link between my two current homes. The artifact was a direct link with one location, but I don’t live in just one location so bringing together my two allowed me to add the same sense of locality to the piece.