LINES

          Simple lines were used to form an abstract design in Roman pottery.  Vegetation, animals, symbols, and decorative motifs were used in these abstract forms.  The lines in many of the pieces seem to have been drawn in an uncontrolled manner.  In other words, the lines are not precised, nor refined.  For instance, the two potteries in fig 1 have many exaggerated lines.  The lines on the broken bowl on the left are more controlled to design the profiled face.  The facial feature of the eyes and nose are large in comparison to the head.  The pottery on the right, the lines of the free formed paint brush strokes varies in size and tone.  You can see exactly where the brush stokes began when the line was drawn.  At start of the line, the pressure of the brush stroke created a mark of a darker value.  The pattern on this bowl is equally balanced composition in design but the lines are obviously not intended to be perfectly drawn.  Between the 11° and the twelfth century, pottery was massed produced because of the population growth in Rome.  This explains why the lines are free formed in an abstract manner.

In fig 2, color was added to complement the design on the bowl, but the lines are still free formed and abstract. The brown contour lines of this vegetation motif are more flat and solid while the blue color lines are light and transparent.  The curved   leaves complements the unrefined rim of the bowl.  The rim on the right side of the bowl is thicker than the the left side.  Therefore I think that elaborate, ornate lines would be an odd design on this bowl. I have easily duplicated by hand the three leaf motif.  It took less than twenty minutes.This is a simple design is idea for a mass production process.

 The design of this screen panel from the early 9° century has lines that are straight and curved.  Only the straight lines forms a star.  The cross symbol and the vegetation motif contains straight lines and curves.  Unlike the pieces in fig 2, these lines create a more intricate, complex design. The surface of the stone is not smooth.  If you look close at the texture, the straight lines of the star, the lines are not precise.  The design gives the illusion of refinment but the design is not exact.  The anchor-shaped vegetation was carved with different sizes and length to the leaf.

Stacie Johnson