Late Minoan pottery was strongly influenced by the changes in the Late Bronze Age. The probable concentration of power at Knossos at the beginning of the Late Minoan period contributed to the prevalence of the Knossos pottery workshop which, during this period, traded its products in the entire Minoan territory. Ceramics trade was ensured by the long period of the so-called Minoan peace which was guarantied by palatial power.

The Late Bronze Age in Crete was marked by important changes in pottery tradition which was partly due to new production techniques. The clay of that time appears with no admixtures, the walls of the vessels are solid, the surface is smooth and lustrous revealing a general improvement in quality since Middle Minoan production. The vases were fired in small built kilns, in stone-built vaulted cabins and kilns that had air-ducts for better air circulation.

One of the innovations of this period was the use of a new kind of burnished glaze which gave a lustrous appearance to the surface of the vessels. But the most significant change is marked in the colour of the decoration and the background of the vessels which changed from light-on-dark to dark-on-light. This new style spread rapidly in both palatial and smaller workshops, giving the impetus for the development of new shapes and decorative motifs.

The themes on the vessels are a development of those on Middle Minoan pottery. As far as styles of the preceding period are concerned, the tortoise-shell ripple pattern and the dark-on-light decoration style were used on a large scale.