Pottery is one of the oldest and wost widespread arts practised by human kind and its history can traced back to the Stone Age. Changes in styles and types occurred in response to changing social, economic and technical demands. This account of the history of pottery begins with the early civilizations of the Near and Middle East and traces the production of ceramics throughout the cultures of the globe, from the Mediterranean and the Orient to Islam and ancient America, from neolithic Britain to Wedgewood and de Morgan, from 20th-century Africa and India to Scandanavia and Australia, with a final chapter on the newest work of studio potters today. The illustrations provide representative examples of the major styles, materials and forms of all periods, allowing the reader to make comparisons and see relationships between the works of cultures which may be widely separated in space and time.
