A visitor to Chios saw them in the courtyards and gardens of Mesta, Pirgi, Vessa. Huge handmade jugs with decorations and symbols that were once invisible in dark cellars. Chiot potters, “canals”, also made chimneys, gutters, conical transparent chambers, vessels that were built into houses like skylights. And, of course, flat tiles, such as those in the Zoodochos Pigi chapel (18th century), with patterns and lines where none is like the other. Ceramics, made without a circle of coarse-grained clay, had strong thick walls and a rough surface, often of an asymmetric shape, with an embossed or slotted ornament, were fired in single-chamber kilns next to wood, which is why some of them turn black and deform at high temperatures.

About 30 of them, the best of the collection of Angelos Vlastaris, consisting mainly of jar lids, as well as some of the other collections, are presented in the new periodical exhibition “From Byzantium to the New World. Chios handmade pottery (17th-19th centuries)” at the Byzantine Christian Museum (BCM).

Small exhibition of the New Cultural Heritage Authority based on the book by Nikos Liaros “Ceramics of Chios (17th-19th century) – Angelos Vlastaris Collection” published by the Capon Publishing House and the Ioannis S. Fafali Foundation during the pandemic. illuminating the history of this unique wealth of Chios from hundreds of Chian pottery, which is a special case in the history of modern Aegean pottery. The reason for this “ceramic swelling”, described in a 239-page edition by archaeologist and ceramist Nikos Liaros, seems to be the island’s great prosperity during the 18th century, “known from the sources, but so clearly realized in the ceramic remains”.

The pottery of Chios follows two different traditions,” Nikos Liaros tells K. “Morphologically and technologically, they belong to Byzantium, that is, they have an old construction technology, even in terms of their form. Another feature is the decoration, which the symbols also have. The potters tried to express themselves through their ceramics. And this path is rough, not perfect, but they draw performances, patterns, capture symbols, apotropaic elements. All caps have symbols and embellishments, and no one has the same. Each one is different.”

Symbols were carved to protect their contents, the family’s crop, from goblins, ghosts, and rampant vampires. The society of Chios was pagan, and we see this in the descriptions of travelers such as the French traveler Jean de Thévenot, who wrote that in the castle of Saint Helena, the inhabitants believed that a corpse that did not melt within 40 days became a vampire.

Human figures on the eyelids are drawn with rough lines, for example, one of them depicts a woman in a long dress, others have a sailboat, crosses, eagles. Most impressive is the lid depicting a three-masted ship and engraved with two human figures resembling corsairs: wearing a hat or scarf and one with a sword.

“We knew less about Aegean pottery in the 16th and 17th centuries. ANNOUNCEMENT. from what we knew about ceramics of the 17th-16th centuries. For example.”.

Many handmade jugs cannot be lifted. According to Nikos Liaros, whose research project focuses on post-Byzantine ceramics, they penetrated cellars and shelters and remained there for 400 years. “We found jugs from the 17th century. be still in the basements of houses. Many of them were placed in certain places, and then a door was built, and today they cannot get out of it. The oldest is dated 1643 and written in Greek characters. “The people of Chios needed to place their work in the flow of time, leave their mark, which is why some have signatures.”

He was most touched when he recognized the potter of that time. Michalis, son of Papagiannis. This name was found on two jars and on the lid. It was clearly carved by the same person. The jars are dated 1778 and 1782, and the lid 1771. “The most important moment was when I read the name Papagiannis. I found his name on a jar in the Vlastari collection, which was clearly written. It was even more touching when later, while looking through notarial documents from Mastichoria, the name of Michalis Papagiannis was found in two notarial deeds in the Codex Armolia. We now know that he lived in Armolia, which is important because it was the pottery center of Chios.” The well-maintained lid has an engraving, probably St. John the Baptist. As the son of a priest, the potter probably knew how to read and write in an age of illiteracy and signs his work because he is proud of it.

The exhibition of the Office of Recent Cultural Heritage BCM cannot accommodate all the ceramic diversity of Chios. However, after reading the book by N. Liaros, dedicated to the collection of English. Vlastaris, an antique dealer who went to the island on vacation, quickly acquired a house in Mastichoria and, out of curiosity, began to collect unusual caps, having amassed an impressive collection, delights with wealth with a “primitive” charm. Volumetric jugs, lids with holes, wheels, vessels with a perforated filter to prevent insects from entering the water, vessels for the distillation of alcoholic beverages, clay pots for sifting mastic, vessels (“burbulls”) for moving it.

Even built-in jugs used as latrines have been found on the island, a luxury unknown in many parts of the Aegean. Curved gutters that diverted water, chimneys that heated living quarters, and cross-decorated washbasins reminded us of the vital importance of water.

Handmade pottery from Chios exudes extraversion. As N. Liaros notes, notarial documents complete the picture, revealing the potters’ desire for self-determination, organization and advancement. “For the first time in the Ottoman Aegean, potters and their work acquire historical significance, and specific personalities emerge from their hitherto anonymous guild.” Chios knew cultural and economic prosperity. “At the same time, scholars of the Modern Greek Enlightenment and Greek merchants were spreading the values ​​of freedom of expression, self-determination, and progress.” But the boom came to an abrupt end in 1822 after the Chios massacre.

It is important to see the report. As an archaeologist, N. Liaros studied prehistoric archaeology, but as he says, “Looking at a newer culture, I realized that we knew less about the pottery of the Aegean in the 16th and 17th centuries. ANNOUNCEMENT. from what we knew about ceramics of the 17th-16th centuries. e.g. This is a tragedy because these are our direct ancestors.”

According to BCM director Pari Kalamaras, such exhibitions document specific aspects of the life, economy and technology of the society that created them. For Willi Stavropoul, the head of the New Cultural Heritage Office, it is important to establish cooperation with the museum: “Managing culture requires synergy and networking.”