Ciubotă, Viorel - Nicolescu, Gheorge - Ţucă, Cornel (szerk.): Jurnal de operaţiuni al Comandamentului Trupelor din Transilvania (1918-1921) 1. (Satu Mare, 1998)
Foreword
Foreword Pottery, due to its old age, is one of the most important sources of learning history. Through and with pottery one can describe, assume and prove many aspects of life that would otherwise have remained unclear forever. The study of pottery proved that its crafting and decoration show not influences but rather similarities raising questions. Since the Neolithic, pottery reached a great diversity of shapes, ornaments and functionalities that have been studied and interpreted by thousands of Romanian and foreign archaeologists. Common vessels and household vessels together with ritual vessels are present in many cultures from prehistory to today. The various categories of pottery known to us today are the result of repeated experiments and attempts. Obviously, the first known group and the oldest, is the traditional pottery. All categories of pottery invented by man throughout history and worldwide imply a good knowledge of the raw material - clay, and of the physical properties of the different types of clay in certain technological conditions. We can add here a good knowledge of tempering agents, dyes, fuels etc. The potters of everywhere knew and know well the local biocenosis as well as the minerals and the useful rocks. Hence colour diversity on pottery - from vegetal and mineral colouring to all sorts of technological choices, physical and chemical processes applied empirically, which need a long experience from one generation to another. The clay type most utilized (at all times worldwide) is the one named by the Romanian potters "clay for pots". It is the puddle that in its precarious, amorphous and anonymous state becomes through water, fire and craft life and history. The clay turned to shape, comes at the history table as a witness. The vessels enclose pieces of history; they tell us over the centuries the story of those who made them. As the famous researcher P.H.Stahl says: "raw, it has nothing to suggest, in the least that it hides beauty. Potters bring out glitter from the shapeless, grey matted'. The traditional pottery, craft and industrial productions cover an important area in the economy of museums that partly justifies the great interest of specialists and the public for this area of expertise on the traditional civilization in our country. Museum pottery collections that contain pieces from various centres, put in value either through exhibitions or publications, come to outline a living map of pottery in our country. Professor loan Godea Ph. D.
