The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 4 (190), 1115—1131
UDK 738.3:391.984(477)”19-20″(062.13)
- Received: 25.07.2026
- Accepted: 15.08.2026
- Published: ??.??.2026
THE ANTHROPOMORPHISM OF CLAY POTTERY: TYPOLOGY AND DECORATION
IVASHKIV Halyna
- ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2359-6735
- Doctor of Sciences in Art Criticism,
- Senior Scholar at the Ethnology Institute
- at the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,
- Folk Art Department
- at the Museum of Ethnography, Arts and Crafts,
- 15, Svoboda Ave., 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
- Contacts: e-mail: halynaivashkiv@ukr.net
Abstract. Ukrainian anthropomorphic pottery or human-shaped vessels dating back to the Eneolithic period are not only unique examples of decorative and applied art but also an important source for studying traditional folk life. Several techniques were typically used in the production and decoration of such tableware: wheel-throwing, moulding, engraving, stamping, smoothing, painting with engobes, ochre, and glazes, full glazing, etc. Throughout the 19th century sculptural techniques predominated, while in the second half of the 20th and the early 21st century, artists conveyed the anthropomorphic features of the vessels by combining these techniques with ochre painting or decorative painting (maliovka).
This article analyzes the artistic characteristics of 19th—20th-century Ukrainian clay tableware featuring anthropomorphic forms, including jars, jugs, pots, twin pots, triple pots, mugs, kumantsi, salt shakers, sugar bowls, lids, and other items. Anthropomorphism is characterized by varying degrees of expressiveness and compositional parameters: depictions of only the head, half-length figures, or full-length figures, where the image is complemented by rows of «buttons» or, less commonly, arcs representing arms, which also served as the ears of the vessels. Artists depicted young noblemen, Jewish innkeepers, military officers, monks, and famous figures, including Taras Shevchenko.
The purpose of this article is to provide an artistic analysis of anthropomorphic vessels, particularly tableware. The subject of the study is pottery with anthropomorphic features found in museums and private collections; the focus of the study is the plasticity of form and decoration in anthropomorphic clay tableware.
Anthropomorphic pottery from various regions of Ukraine has been discovered in museums and private collections and introduced into scholarly discourse. Artistic analysis has drawn parallels between Ukrainian ceramics and similar works by craftsmen from Poland, Slovakia, Serbia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and other countries.
Keywords: anthropomorphic pottery, functional purpose, plasticity of form and decoration, museum, private collection, cultural heritage.
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