Jennifer Lucy Allan offers a rapturous ode to the marvels of clay in her delightfully comprehensive Clay: A Human History. Allan (The Foghorn's Lament) nimbly sifts through the millennia to relate humanity's intricate history with the substance. She blends her own journey as a potter with profiles of renowned ceramic works, which are replete with archival information and historical context.
Each chapter has a single-word title, such as "Mud," "Fire," "Figures," "Wheels," and "Sound." Within each chapter, readers can expect to find an exploration of the titular word as it relates to clay through history, with illustrative examples. For instance, in "Figures," Allan begins with the 27,000-year-old "Venus of Dolní Věstonice," "the oldest ceramic object that has ever been found." She touches on her personal experience copying clay figurines found in Mycenaean Greece; discusses the predominance of ceramic figurines across the world; introduces the utterly fascinating ethnoarcheologist Marija Gimbutas, who "spent a decade sourcing and photographing over 30,000 miniature sculptures"; then, finally, returns to the 21st century with an account of artist Ceylan Öztrük's 2014 reinterpretation of the Venus figure.
A master compiler, Allan seamlessly includes interviews, anecdotes, and amazing facts, even highlighting holes in the archive, such as those surrounding Ladi Kwali, a famous Nigerian potter whose words are not captured firsthand anywhere, despite her widespread acclaim. Readers can expect to range remarkably far and wide with this book, from prehistoric societies to Mars, all in pursuit of clay. --Nina Semczuk, writer, editor, and illustrator