Sex Pots: Eroticism in Ceramics

Eroticism has been one of the major themes connected with ceramics almost since man first began to shape clay. Sometimes this was reflected in the form of the ceramics, sometimes in its decoration. The resulting clay objects have been used for a wide variety of things: as votive offerings, burial items, decorative ware and, particularly in recent years, as a means of social commentary on current trends. In this work, Paul Mathieu traces the history of eroticism as it appears through ceramics and then looks closely at the work of the current generation of ceramists who are also using eroticism as part of their work.