Eroticism has been a main theme of art since the days of cave painting. However, the very permanency of ceramics has ensured that examples of eroticism on ceramics have survived while examples on other materials such as canvas, wood, paper, and textiles have not. Ironically, it is this same quality of permanency that will probably ensure that ceramic works from the present will survive into the future in a way that art on some of our current high-tech materials will not.

In Sex Pots, Paul Mathieu looks over a variety of themes dealing with eroticism and ceramics-including aesthetics, sexualities, and the societies that engendered them-to produce a clear view of not only the history of ceramics and sexuality but also a view of contemporary practice and trends with an insight into future developments. He is aided by Catherine Hess of the Getty Museum, who has produced an invaluable chapter on the erotic ceramics of the Renaissance period.

Although not meant to be a history, Sex Pots provides a unique overview of the interconnection between two of the most persistent themes in human society: eroticism and art.

Paul Mathieu is a well-known Canadian ceramist. He currently teaches at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver. Catherine Hess is currently an associate curator in the Department of Sculpture and Works of Art at the J. Paul Getty Museum in California.