Clay

A Human History

Jennifer Lucy Allan

A human history told through clay—and how it has shaped us from ancient times to the present day.

This book is a love letter to clay, the material that is at the beginning, middle and end of all of our lives; that contains within it the eternal, the elemental, and the everyday.

People have been taking handfuls of earth and forming them into their own image since human history began. Human forms are found everywhere there was a ceramic tradition, and there is a ceramic tradition everywhere there was human activity. The clay these figures are made from was formed in deep geological time. It is the material that God, cast as the potter, uses to form Adam in Genesis. Tomb paintings in Egypt show the god Khum at a potter's wheel, throwing a human. Humans first recorded our own history on clay tablets, the shape of the characters influenced by the clay itself. The first love poem was inscribed in a clay tablet, from a Sumerian bride to her king more than 4000 years ago.

Born out of a desire to know and understand the mysteries of this material, the spiritual and practical applications of clay in both its micro and macro histories, Clay: A Human History is a book of wonder and insight, a hybrid of archaeology, history and lived experience as an amateur potter.

Jennifer Lucy Allan is an author, journalist and broadcaster with a PhD in foghorns. She is the author of The Foghorn's Lament and she is a presenter on BBC Radio 3's long running music show, Late Junction, and presented "Life, Death and the Foghorn," and "Oh Yoko!" for BBC Radio 4. As a journalist she has written on underground and experimental music for over fifteeen years, and also co-ran the record labels Arc Light Editions and Good Energy.

Buy it now in print:

Buy it now in ebook:

Endorsements & Reviews

"Jennifer Lucy Allan––an amateur potter herself––has written a mesmerising history of the practical, spiritual and artistic uses of clay, a deceptively simple material that has, in many ways, helped shape human history. Ranging across time and place, this wonderful book opens up a world of wonder. I learned so much from it––and could not put it down." Jennifer Higgie, author of The Mirror and the Palette and The Other Side

"I thought I knew a lot about pottery, but I didn't, not as much as I do now. From the earliest earthenware to the history of porcelain, along with the author's own progress working with different clays and glazes, I have loved learning from every chapter in this beautiful and affecting book." Vashti Bunyan, singer-songwriter

"An engrossing history of the deep connection between humans and clay, electrified by a ceramicist's passion."
Katherine May, author of Enchantment

"Clay is a joy to read. It made me want to learn to be a potter all over again." Florian Gadsby, potter

"I read this book and immediately went out to buy some clay. Fascinating and powerful." Brian Eno, musician