White-ground technique is a style of white ancientGreek pottery and thepainting in which figures appear on a white background. It developed in the region ofAttica, dated to about 500 BC. It was especially associated with vases made for ritual and funerary use, if only because the painted surface was more fragile than in the other main techniques ofblack-figure andred-figure vase painting. Nevertheless, a wide range of subjects are depicted.
In white-ground pottery, the vase is covered with a light or whiteslip ofkaolinite. A similar slip had been used as carrier for vase paintings in theGeometric andArchaic periods. White-ground vases were produced, for example, inIonia,Laconia and on theCycladic islands, but only inAthens did it develop into a veritable separate style beside black-figure and red-figure vase painting. For that reason, the term "white-ground pottery" or "white-ground vase painting" is usually used in reference to the Attic material only.
The light slip was probably meant to make the vases appear more valuable, perhaps by eliciting associations withivory ormarble. However, in no case was a vessel's entire surface covered in white slip. It has also been conjectured[2] that this form of painting emerged in order to emulate the more prestigious medium ofwall painting, but proof for this thesis has been elusive. Furthermore, the group of five Huge Lekythoi (c. 70–100 cm high) are covered entirely in white slip, which suggests an imitation of marble lekythoi for funerary purposes.[3]
White-ground vase painting often occurred in association withred-figure vase painting. Especially typical of this arekylikes with a white-ground interior and a red-figure exterior image. White-ground painting is less durable than black- or red-figure, which is why such vases were primarily used asvotives and grave vessels.
The development of white-ground vase painting took place parallel to that of the black- and red-figure styles. In the course of that development, five sub-styles can be noted:
Early use. The earliest surviving example of the technique is a fragmentarykantharos signed by the potter-painterNearchosc. 570 BC . It was found on theAthenian Acropolis (Akropolis 611).[4] The technique was used to create strobing bands of colour that emphasize the shape of the vase.[5] and is associated with the workshops ofAndokides,Nikosthenes andPsiax.[6]
Type I. The use of a white ground in conjunction with outline painting did not develop until some fifty years later, when black-figure vase painting on white ground was probably introduced by the potter Nikosthenes around 530/525 BC. After a short interval, this technique was also adopted by other workshops, including that of Psiax.[7] The manner of painting is the same as in conventional black-figure, the colour of the grounding being the only difference. The ground is rarely pure white, but usually slightly yellowish or light beige.
Type II. A second form is monochrome silhouette drawing. Images are not created from reservation (paint-free areas) and painted internal detail (as in red-figure vase painting), but from drawn outlines and painted internal detail. This style is used since the end of the 6th century BC, especially on cups,alabastra andlekythoi. Initially, the outline of the figures is executed in the form of arelief line, but from about 500 BC, this is increasingly replaced by painted yellowish-brown lines. The so-called "semi-outline" technique is a combination of the first and the second technique, used only in the first half of the 5th century BC, virtually exclusively onlekythoi and alabastra.
Type III. In the first quarter of the 5th century, the workshop of the potterEuphronios develops a four-colour painting style using a combination of shiny clay slip and mineral paints. The images are made up of outline drawings in shiny slip and coloured areas in mineral paint. This style is used especially onpyxides and cups. Some details, such as fruit, jewellery, weaponry or vessels can be executed in clay slip in such a fashion as to attain a slight plasticity, additionally they may be gilded. The paints used are limited to tones of red and brown, yellow, white and black.
Type IV. Early Classicallekythos painting combined shiny slip, mineral paints and non.ceramic mineral paints, This type developed in the second quarter of the 5th century BC. It was used in painting large gravelekythoi used in funerary cult. The images are mostly constructed of coloured areas. Pure outline drawing is only used for the depiction of male bodies at this stage. Female bodies are rendered in white paint, clothing in black shiny slip, mineral paints and occasionally non-ceramic paints such ascinnabarite orEgyptian blue. Many images depict scenes from women's life (thegynaikion). Grave images are rare. The most important representative of this style is theAchilles Painter.[8]
Type V. The fifth style was polychromelekythos painting. It replaced Early Classicallekythos painting around the middle of the 5th century BC. By this time, white-ground can be identified most closely with threeprincipal shapes: thelekythos, thekrater, and cups.[9] Black shiny slip and white paint now disappeared from the paintings. Female bodies were again rendered as simple outline drawings. Non-ceramic mineral paints also ceased to be used. At the same time, several painters, starting with theSabouroff Painter, began to use red or blackish-grey matt paints, instead of shinyslip, for the contours. Only the contours are painted before firing, other paints are applied afterwards. Therefore, the durability of such vase paintings is very limited; many examples are badly preserved or completely worn. As a result, it is difficult to assess the depicted motifs. Grave scenes are predominant.
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Important Classical white-ground painters (5th century BC), in addition to the Achilleus Painter and Sabouroff Painter, include theSappho Painter,Thanatos Painter,Bird Painter,Square Painter,Women Painter,Phiale Painter, as well as several representatives ofGroup R (Reed Group), including its eponymousReed Painter. By the end of the century, some first attempts at shaded painting can be observed, influenced probably by contemporaneouspanel painting. Notable in this regard is theGroup of the Huge Lekythoi, specialised in decorating large grave vessels. During the second half of the 5th century, white-ground vase painting was used nearly exclusively for gravelekythoi. When that vase type went out of use around 400 BC, white-ground vase painting also ceased.
Later, during theHellenistic period, various types of white-ground pottery occur in several locations of the Greek World, sometimes painted monochrome, sometimes polychrome. They includeHâdra vases,Canosa vases and vases of theCenturipe type.Lagynoi were often decorated in white-ground technique.
