scope note
| - Middle Minoan pottery found mainly at Knossos, Phaistos, and the Kamáres cave sanctuary, for which it is named. It is characterized by a dark lustrous ground to which ornament is added in red and white, with sophisticated designs in curvilinear abstract patterns, and stylized plant, marine, and figural motifs. It often employed the distinctive compositional device of torsion, where the balance of opposing compositional forces was emphasized, for example, with two opposed diagonal compositions twisting around the vase. The potter's wheel was generally used for smaller vessels, and larger vessels were made by hand using the older method. (en)
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