Pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record ofancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in theCorpus vasorum antiquorum),[1] it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding ofGreek society. The shards of pots discarded or buried in the 1st millennium BC are still the best guide available to understand the customary life and mind of the ancient Greeks. There were several vessels produced locally for everyday and kitchen use, yet finerpottery from regions such asAttica was imported by other civilizations throughoutthe Mediterranean, such as theEtruscans in Italy.[2] There were a multitude of specific regional varieties, such as theSouth Italian ancient Greek pottery.
Throughout these places,various types and shapes of vases were used. Not all were purely utilitarian; largeGeometricamphorae were used as grave markers,kraters inApulia served as tomb offerings andPanathenaic Amphorae seem to have been looked on partly asobjets d'art, as were later terracotta figurines. Some were highly decorative and meant for elite consumption and domestic beautification as much as serving a storage or other function, such as the krater with its usual use in diluting wine.
Earlier Greek styles of pottery, called "Aegean" rather than "Ancient Greek",[citation needed] includeMinoan pottery, which was very sophisticated by its final stages,Cycladic pottery,Minyan ware and additionallyMycenaean pottery in theBronze Age, followed by the cultural disruption of theGreek Dark Age. As the culture recoveredSub-Mycenaean pottery finally blended into theProtogeometric style, which begins Ancient Greek pottery proper.[citation needed]
The rise ofvase painting saw increasing decoration.Geometric art in Greek pottery was contiguous with the late Dark Age and earlyArchaic Greece, which saw the rise of theOrientalizing period. The pottery produced in Archaic andClassical Greece included at firstblack-figure pottery, yet other styles emerged such asred-figure pottery and thewhite ground technique. Styles such asWest Slope Ware were characteristic of the subsequentHellenistic period, which saw vase painting's decline.
The interest in Greek art lagged behind the revival of classical scholarship during the Renaissance and was revived in the academic circle surroundingNicolas Poussin inRome in the 1630s. Though modest collections of vases recovered from ancient tombs in Italy were made in the 15th and 16th centuries these were regarded asEtruscan. It is possible thatLorenzo de Medici bought severalAttic vases directly fromGreece;[3] however the connection between them and the examples excavated in centralItaly was not made until much later.Winckelmann'sGeschichte der Kunst des Alterthums of 1764 first refuted the Etruscan origin of what we now know to be Greek pottery[4] yetSir William Hamilton's two collections, one lost at sea the other now in theBritish Museum, were still published as "Etruscan vases"; it would take until 1837 withStackelberg'sGräber der Hellenen to conclusively end the controversy.[5]
Much of the early study of Greek vases took the form of production of albums of the images they depict, however neitherD'Hancarville's norTischbein's folios record the shapes or attempt to supply a date and are therefore unreliable as an archaeological record. Serious attempts at scholarly study made steady progress over the 19th century starting with the founding of the Instituto di Corrispondenza in Rome in 1828 (later the German Archaeological Institute), followed byEduard Gerhard's pioneering studyAuserlesene Griechische Vasenbilder (1840 to 1858), the establishment of the journalArchaeologische Zeitung in 1843 and theEcole d'Athens 1846. It was Gerhard who first outlined the chronology we now use, namely: Orientalizing (Geometric, Archaic), Black Figure, Red Figure, Polychromatic (Hellenistic).
Finally it wasOtto Jahn's 1854 catalogueVasensammlung of the Pinakothek, Munich, that set the standard for the scientific description of Greek pottery, recording the shapes and inscriptions with a previously unseen fastidiousness. Jahn's study was the standard textbook on the history and chronology of Greek pottery for many years, yet in common with Gerhard he dated the introduction of the red figure technique to a century later than was in fact the case. This error was corrected when theArchaeological Society of Athens undertook the excavation of the Acropolis in 1885 and discovered the so-called "Persian debris" of red figure pots destroyed byPersian invaders in 480 BC. With a more soundly established chronology it was possible forAdolf Furtwängler and his students in the 1880s and 90s to date the strata of his archaeological digs by the nature of the pottery found within them, a method ofseriationFlinders Petrie was later to apply to unpainted Egyptian pottery.
Where the 19th century was a period of Greek discovery and the laying out of first principles, the 20th century has been one of consolidation and intellectual industry. Efforts to record and publish the totality of public collections of vases began with the creation of theCorpus vasorum antiquorum underEdmond Pottier and the Beazley archive ofJohn Beazley.
Beazley and others following him have also studied fragments of Greek pottery in institutional collections, and have attributed many painted pieces to individual artists. Scholars have called these fragmentsdisjecta membra (Latin for "scattered parts") and in a number of instances have been able to identify fragments now in different collections that belong to the same vase.[6]
The names we use forGreek vase shapes are often a matter of convention rather than historical fact. A few do illustrate their own use or are labeled with their original names, while others are the result of early archaeologists' attempt to reconcile the physical object with a known name from Greek literature—not always successfully.To understand the relationship between form and function, Greek pottery may be divided into four broad categories, given here with common types:[2][7][8]
As well as these utilitarian functions, certain vase shapes were especially associated withrituals, others with athletics and thegymnasium.[9] Not all of their uses are known, but where there is uncertainty scholars make good proximate guesses of what use a piece would have served. Some have a purely ritual function, for example
Some vessels were designed asgrave markers. Kraters marked the places of males and amphorae marked those of females.[10] This helped them to survive, and is why some will depict funeral processions.[11]White groundlekythoi contained the oil used as funerary offerings and appear to have been made solely with that object in mind. Many examples have a concealed second cup inside them to give the impression of being full of oil, as such they would have served no other useful gain.
There was an international market for Greek pottery since the 8th century BC, whichAthens andCorinth dominated down to the end of the 4th century BC.[12] An idea of the extent of this trade can be gleaned from plotting the find maps of these vases outside of Greece, though this could not account for gifts or immigration. Only the existence of a second hand market could account for the number of panathenaics found inEtruscan tombs.South Italian wares came to dominate the export trade in the Western Mediterranean as Athens declined in political importance during theHellenistic period.
The few ways that clay pottery can be damaged is by being broken, being abraded or by coming in contact with fire.[13] The process of making a pot and firing it is fairly simple. The first thing a potter needs isclay. Attica's high-iron clay gave its pots an orange color.[14]
| External videos | |
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 Making Greek Vases, produced by theJ. Paul Getty Museum hosted atSmarthistory[15] | |
| Exekias, Attic black figure amphora with Ajax and Achilles playing a game | |
| Mixing Vessel with Odysseus Escaping from the Cyclops' Cave all hosted at Smarthistory[15] |
When clay is first dug out of the ground it is full of rocks and shells and other useless items that need to be removed. To do this the potter mixes the clay with water and lets all the impurities sink to the bottom. This is called levigation orelutriation. This process can be done many times. The more times this is done, the smoother clay becomes.
The clay is then kneaded by the potter and placed on awheel. Once the clay is on the wheel the potter can shape it into any of the many shapes shown below, or anything else he desires. Wheel-made pottery dates back to roughly 2500 BC. Before this, the coil method of building the walls of the pot was employed. Most Greek vases were wheel-made, though as with theRhyton mould-made pieces (so-called "plastic" pieces) are also found and decorative elements either hand-formed or by mould were added to thrown pots. More complex pieces were made in parts then assembled when it was leather hard by means of joining with a slip, where the potter returned to the wheel for the final shaping or turning. Sometimes, a young man helped turn the wheel.[16][17]
After the pot was made, the potter painted it with an ultra fine grained clay slip; the paint was applied on the areas intended to become black after firing, according to the two different styles, i.e. the black figure and the red figure.[18] For the decoration the vase painters used brushes of different thickness, pinpoint tools for incisions and probably single-hair tools for the relief lines.[19]
A series of analytical studies have shown that the striking black gloss with a metallic sheen, so characteristic of Greek pottery, emerged from the colloidal fraction of an illitic clay with very low calcium oxide content. This clay slip was rich in iron oxides and hydroxides, differentiating from that used for the body of the vase in terms of the calcium content, the exact mineral composition and the particle size. The fine clay suspension used for the paint was either produced by using several deflocculating additives to clay (potash, urea, dregs of wine, bone ashes, seaweed ashes, etc.) or by collecting it in situ from illitic clay beds following rain periods. Recent studies have shown that some trace elements in the black glaze (i.e. Zn in particular) can be characteristic of the clay beds used in antiquity. In general, different teams of scholars suggest different approaches concerning the production of the clay slip used in antiquity.[20][21][22]
Greek pottery, unlike today's pottery, was only fired once, using a very sophisticated process.[23] The black color effect was achieved by means of changing the amount of oxygen present during firing. This was done in a process known asthree-phase firing involving alternating oxidizing –reducing conditions. First, the kiln was heated to around 920–950 °C, with all vents open bringing oxygen into the firing chamber and turning both pot and slip a reddish-brown (oxidising conditions) due to the formation ofhematite (Fe2O3) in both the paint and the clay body. Then the vent was closed and green wood introduced, creating carbon monoxide which turns the redhematite to blackmagnetite (Fe3O4); at this stage the temperature decreases due to incomplete combustion. In a final reoxidizing phase (at about 800–850 °C) the kiln was opened and oxygen reintroduced causing the unslipped reserved clay to go back to orange-red while the slipped area on the vase that had been sintered/vitrified in the previous phase, could no longer be oxidized and remained black.
While the description of a single firing with three stages may seem economical and efficient, some scholars claim that it is equally possible that each of these stages was confined to separate firings[24] in which the pottery is subjected to multiple firings, of different atmosphere. In any case, the faithful reproduction of the process involving extensive experimental work that led to the creation of a modern production unit in Athens since 2000,[25] has shown that the ancient vases may have been subjected to multiple three-stage firings following repainting or as an attempt to correct color failures[20]The technique which is mostly known as the "iron reduction technique" was decoded with the contribution of scholars, ceramists and scientists from the mid 18th century onwards to the end of the 20th century, i.e.Comte de Caylus (1752), Durand-Greville (1891), Binns and Fraser (1925), Schumann (1942), Winter (1959), Bimson (1956), Noble (1960, 1965), Hofmann (1962), Oberlies (1968), Pavicevic (1974), Aloupi (1993). More recent studies by Walton et al. (2009), Walton et al. (2014), Lühl et al. (2014) and Chaviara & Aloupi-Siotis (2016) by using advanced analytical techniques provide detailed information on the process and the raw materials used.[26]
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The most familiar aspect of ancient Greek pottery is painted vessels of fine quality. These were not the everyday pottery used by most people but were sufficiently cheap to be accessible to a wide range of the population.
Few examples ofancient Greek painting have survived so modern scholars have to trace the development ofancient Greek art partly through ancient Greek vase-painting, which survives in large quantities and is also, withAncient Greek literature, the best guide we have to the customary life and mind of the ancient Greeks.
Greek pottery goes back to theStone Age, such as those found inSesklo andDimini.
More elaborate painting on Greek pottery goes back to theMinoan pottery andMycenaean pottery of theBronze Age, some later examples of which show the ambitious figurative painting that was to become highly developed and typical.
After many centuries dominated by styles of geometric decoration, becoming increasingly complex, figurative elements returned in force in the 8th century. From the late 7th century to about 300 BC evolving styles of figure-led painting were at their peak of production and quality and were widely exported.
During theGreek Dark Age, spanning the 11th to 8th centuries BC, the prevalent early style was that of theprotogeometric art, predominantly using circular and wavy decorative patterns. This was succeeded inmainland Greece, theAegean,Anatolia, andItaly by the style of pottery known asgeometric art, which employed neat rows of geometric shapes.[27]
The period ofArchaic Greece, beginning in the 8th century BC and lasting until the early 5th century BC, saw the birth of theOrientalizing period, led largely byancient Corinth, where the previous stick-figures of the geometric pottery become fleshed out amid motifs that replaced the geometric patterns.[12]
The classical ceramic decor is dominated mostly byAttic vase painting. Attic production was the first to resume after the Greek Dark Age and influenced the rest of Greece, especiallyBoeotia,Corinth, theCyclades (in particularNaxos) and theIonian colonies in the eastAegean.[28] Production of vases was largely the prerogative of Athens – it is well attested that in Corinth, Boeotia, Argos, Crete and Cyclades, the painters and potters were satisfied to follow the Attic style.By the end of the Archaic period the styles ofblack-figure pottery, red-figure pottery and the white ground technique had become fully established and would continue in use during the era ofClassical Greece, from the early 5th to late 4th centuries BC. Corinth was eclipsed by Athenian trends since Athens was the progenitor of both the red-figure and white ground styles.[12]
Vases of theprotogeometrical period (c. 1050–900 BC) represent the return of craft production after the collapse of the Mycenaean Palace culture and the ensuingGreek dark ages. It is one of the few modes of artistic expression besides jewelry in this period since the sculpture, monumental architecture and mural painting of this era are unknown to us. By 1050 BC life in the Greek peninsula seems to have become sufficiently settled to allow a marked improvement in the production of earthenware. The style is confined to the rendering of circles, triangles, wavy lines and arcs, but placed with evident consideration and notable dexterity, probably aided bycompasses and multiple brushes.[29] The site ofLefkandi is one of our most important sources of ceramics from this period where a cache of grave goods has been found giving evidence of a distinctive Euboian protogeometric style which lasted into the early 8th century.[30]
Geometric art flourished in the 9th and 8th centuries BC. It was characterized by new motifs, breaking with the representation of theMinoan andMycenaean periods: meanders, triangles and other geometrical decoration (hence the name of the style) as distinct from the predominantly circular figures of the previous style. However, our chronology for this new art form comes from exported wares found in datable contexts overseas.
With the early geometrical style (approximately 900–850 BC) one finds only abstract motifs, in what is called the "Black Dipylon" style, which is characterized by extensive use of black varnish, with the Middle Geometrical (approx. 850–770 BC), figurative decoration makes its appearance: they are initially identical bands of animals such as horses, stags, goats, geese, etc. which alternate with the geometrical bands. In parallel, the decoration becomes complicated and becomes increasingly ornate; the painter feels reluctant to leave empty spaces and fills them withmeanders orswastikas. This phase is namedhorror vacui (fear of the empty) and will not cease until the end of geometrical period.
In the middle of the century there begin to appear human figures, the best known representations of which are those of the vases found inDipylon, one of the cemeteries ofAthens. The fragments of these large funerary vases show mainly processions of chariots or warriors or of the funerary scenes:πρόθεσις (prothesis; exposure and lamentation of dead) orἐκφορά (ekphora; transport of the coffin to the cemetery). The bodies are represented in a geometrical way except for the calves, which are rather protuberant. In the case of soldiers, a shield in form of adiabolo, called "dipylon shield" because of its characteristic drawing, covers the central part of the body. The legs and the necks of the horses, the wheels of the chariots are represented one beside the other without perspective. The hand of this painter, so called in the absence of signature, is theDipylon Master, could be identified on several pieces, in particular monumental amphorae.[32]
| Trojan War |
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Trojans and allies |
At the end of the period there appear representations of mythology, probably at the moment whenHomer codifies the traditions ofTrojan cycle in theIliad and theOdyssey. Here however the interpretation constitutes a risk for the modern observer: a confrontation between two warriors can be a Homeric duel or simple combat; a failed boat can represent the shipwreck ofOdysseus or any hapless sailor.
Lastly, are the local schools that appear in Greece. Production of vases was largely the prerogative of Athens – it is well attested that as in the proto-geometrical period, in Corinth, Boeotia,Argos,Crete andCyclades, the painters and potters were satisfied to follow theAttic style. From about the 8th century BC on, they created their own styles, Argos specializing in the figurative scenes, Crete remaining attached to a more strict abstraction.[33]
The orientalizing style was the product of cultural ferment in theAegean and Eastern Mediterranean of the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Fostered by trade links with the city-states ofAsia Minor, the artifacts of the East influenced a highly stylized yet recognizable representational art. Ivories, pottery and metalwork from theNeo-Hittite principalities of northernSyria andPhoenicia found their way to Greece, as did goods fromAnatolianUrartu andPhrygia, yet there was little contact with the cultural centers of Egypt orAssyria. The new idiom developed initially in Corinth (as Proto-Corinthian) and later in Athens between 725 BC and 625 BC (as Proto-Attic).[34]
It was characterized by an expanded vocabulary of motifs:sphinx,griffin,lions, etc., as well as a repertory of non-mythological animals arranged in friezes across the belly of the vase. In these friezes, painters also began to apply lotuses or palmettes. Depictions of humans were relatively rare. Those that have been found are figures in silhouette with some incised detail, perhaps the origin of the incised silhouette figures of the black-figure period. There is sufficient detail on these figures to allow scholars to discern a number of different artists' hands. Geometrical features remained in the style called proto-Corinthian that embraced these Orientalizing experiments, yet which coexisted with a conservative sub-geometric style.
The ceramics of Corinth were exported all over Greece, and their technique arrived in Athens, prompting the development of a less markedly Eastern idiom there. During this time described as Proto-Attic, the orientalizing motifs appear but the features remain not very realistic. The painters show a preference for the typical scenes of the Geometrical Period, like processions of chariots. However, they adopt the principle of line drawing to replace the silhouette. In the middle of the 7th century BC, there appears the black and white style: black figures on a white zone, accompanied by polychromy to render the color of the flesh or clothing. Clay used in Athens was much more orange than that of Corinth, and so did not lend itself as easily to the representation of flesh. Attic Orientalising Painters include theAnalatos Painter, theMesogeia Painter and thePolyphemos Painter.
Crete, and especially the islands of the Cyclades, are characterized by their attraction to the vases known as "plastic", i.e. those whose paunch or collar is moulded in the shape of head of an animal or a man. AtAegina, the most popular form of the plastic vase is the head of the griffin. The Melanesian amphoras, manufactured atParos, exhibit little knowledge of Corinthian developments. They present a marked taste for the epic composition and a horror vacui, which is expressed in an abundance of swastikas and meanders.
Finally one can identify the last major style of the period, that ofWild Goat Style, allotted traditionally to Rhodes because of an important discovery within the necropolis ofKameiros. In fact, it is widespread over all ofAsia Minor, with centers of production atMiletus andChios. Two forms prevailoenochoes, which copied bronze models, and dishes, with or without feet. The decoration is organized in superimposed registers in which stylized animals, in particular of feral goats (from whence the name) pursue each other in friezes. Many decorative motifs (floral triangles, swastikas, etc.) fill the empty spaces.
Black-figure is the most commonly imagined when one thinks about Greek pottery. It was a popular style in ancient Greece for many years. The black-figure period coincides approximately with the era designated byWinckelmann as the middle to lateArchaic, fromc. 620 to 480 BC. The technique of incising silhouetted figures with enlivening detail which we now call the black-figure method was a Corinthian invention of the 7th century[35] and spread from there to other city states and regions includingSparta,[36]Boeotia,[37]Euboea,[38] the east Greek islands[39] and Athens.
The Corinthian fabric, extensively studied byHumfry Payne[40] and Darrell Amyx,[41] can be traced though the parallel treatment of animal and human figures. The animal motifs have greater prominence on the vase and show the greatest experimentation in the early phase of Corinthian black-figure. As Corinthian artists gained confidence in their rendering of the human figure the animal frieze declined in size relative to the human scene during the middle to late phase. By the mid-6th century BC, the quality of Corinthian ware had fallen away significantly to the extent that some Corinthian potters would disguise their pots with a red slip in imitation of superior Athenian ware.
At Athens researchers have found the earliest known examples of vase painters signing their work, the first being adinos bySophilos (illus. below, BM,c. 580), this perhaps indicative of their increasing ambition as artists in producing the monumental work demanded as grave markers, as for example withKleitias'sFrançois Vase. Many scholars consider the finest work in the style to belongExekias and theAmasis Painter, who are noted for their feeling for composition and narrative.
Circa 520 BC the red-figure technique was developed and was gradually introduced in the form of thebilingual vase by theAndokides Painter,Oltos andPsiax.[42] Red-figure quickly eclipsed black-figure, yet in the unique form of the Panathanaic Amphora, black-figure continued to be utilised well into the 4th century BC.
The innovation of the red-figure technique was an Athenian invention of the late 6th century. It was quite the opposite of black-figure which had a red background. The ability to render detail by direct painting rather than incision offered new expressive possibilities to artists such as three-quarter profiles, greater anatomical detail and the representation of perspective.
The first generation of red-figure painters worked in both red- and black-figure as well as other methods includingSix's technique andwhite-ground; the latter was developed at the same time as red-figure. However, within twenty years, experimentation had given way to specialization as seen in the vases of thePioneer Group, whose figural work was exclusively in red-figure, though they retained the use of black-figure for some early floral ornamentation. The shared values and goals of The Pioneers such asEuphronios andEuthymides signal that they were something approaching a self-conscious movement, though they left behind no testament other than their own work. John Boardman said of the research on their work that "the reconstruction of their careers, common purpose, even rivalries, can be taken as an archaeological triumph".[43]
The next generation of lateArchaic vase painters (c. 500 to 480 BC) brought an increasing naturalism to the style as seen in the gradual change of the profile eye. This phase also sees the specialization of painters into pot and cup painters, with theBerlin andKleophrades Painters notable in the former category andDouris andOnesimos in the latter.
By the early to high classical era ofred-figure painting (c. 480–425 BC), a number of distinct schools had evolved. The Mannerists associated with the workshop of Myson and exemplified by thePan Painter hold to the archaic features of stiff drapery and awkward poses and combine that with exaggerated gestures. By contrast, the school of the Berlin Painter in the form of theAchilles Painter and his peers (who may have been the Berlin Painter's pupils) favoured a naturalistic pose usually of a single figure against a solid black background or of restrainedwhite-ground lekythoi.Polygnotos and theKleophon Painter can be included in the school of theNiobid Painter, as their work indicates something of the influence of theParthenon sculptures both in theme (e.g., Polygnotos's centauromachy, Brussels, Musées Royaux A. & Hist., A 134) and in feeling for composition.
Toward the end of the century, the "Rich" style of Attic sculpture as seen in theNike Balustrade is reflected in contemporary vase painting with an ever-greater attention to incidental detail, such as hair and jewellery. TheMeidias Painter is usually most closely identified with this style.
Vase production in Athens stopped around 330–320 BC possibly due toAlexander the Great's control of the city, and had been in slow decline over the 4th century along with the political fortunes of Athens itself. However, vase production continued in the 4th and 3rd centuries in the Greek colonies of southern Italy where five regional styles may be distinguished. These are theApulian,Lucanian,Sicilian,Campanian andPaestan. Red-figure work flourished there with the distinctive addition of polychromatic painting and in the case of theBlack Sea colony ofPanticapeum the gilded work of theKerch Style. Several noteworthy artists' work comes down to us including theDarius Painter and theUnderworld Painter, both active in the late 4th century, whose crowded polychromatic scenes often essay a complexity of emotion not attempted by earlier painters. Their work represents a late mannerist phase to the achievement of Greek vase painting.
The white-ground technique was developed at the end of the 6th century BC. Unlike the better-known black-figure and red-figure techniques, its coloration was not achieved through the application and firing ofslips but through the use of paints and gilding on a surface of white clay. It allowed for a higher level of polychromy than the other techniques, although the vases end up less visually striking. The technique gained great importance during the 5th and 4th centuries, especially in the form of smalllekythoi that became typical grave offerings. Important representatives include its inventor, theAchilles Painter, as well asPsiax, thePistoxenos Painter, and theThanatos Painter.
Relief and plastic vases became particularly popular in the 4th century BC and continued being manufactured in the Hellenistic period. They were inspired by the so-called "rich style" developed mainly in Attica after 420 BC. The main features were the multi-figured compositions with use of added colours (pink/reddish, blue, green, gold) and an emphasis on female mythological figures. Theatre and performing constituted yet one more source of inspiration.
Delphi Archaeological Museum has some particularly good examples of this style, including a vase withAphrodite andEros. The base is round, cylindrical, and its handle vertical, with bands, covered with black colour. The female figure (Aphrodite) is depicted seated, wearing anhimation. Next to her stands a male figure, naked and winged. Both figures wear wreaths made of leaves and their hair preserve traces of golden paint. The features of their faces are stylized. The vase has a white ground and maintains in several parts the traces of bluish, greenish and reddish paint. It dates to the 4th century BC.
In the same room is kept a small lekythos with a plastic decoration, depicting a winged dancer. The figure wears a Persian head cover and an oriental dress, indicating that already in that period oriental dancers, possibly slaves, had become quite fashionable. The figure is also covered with a white colour. The total height of the vase is 18 centimeters and it dates to the 4th century BC.
TheHellenistic period, ushered in by the conquests ofAlexander the Great, saw the virtual disappearance of black and red-figure pottery yet also the emergence of new styles such as West Slope Ware in the east, theCenturipe ware inSicily, and theGnathia vases to the west.[44] Outside of mainland Greece other regional Greek traditions developed, such as those inMagna Graecia with the various styles in South Italy, includingApulian,Lucanian,Paestan,Campanian, andSicilian.[12]
Inscriptions on Greek pottery are of two kinds; the incised (the earliest of which are contemporary with the beginnings of the Greek alphabet in the 8th century BC), and the painted, which only begin to appear a century later. Both forms are relatively common on painted vases until the Hellenistic period when the practice of inscribing pots seems to die out. They are by far most frequently found on Attic pottery.
A number of sub-classes of inscription can be distinguished. Potters and painters occasionally signed their works withepoiesen andegraphsen respectively. Trademarks are found from the start of the 6th century on Corinthian pieces; these may have belonged to an exporting merchant rather than the pottery workfield and this remains a matter of conjecture. Patrons' names are also sometimes recorded, as are the names of characters and objects depicted. At times we may find a snatch of dialogue to accompany a scene, as in 'Dysniketos's horse has won', announces a herald on a Panathenaic amphora (BM, B 144). More puzzling, however, are thekalos andkalee inscriptions, which might have formed part of courtship ritual in Athenian high society, yet are found on a wide variety of vases not necessarily associated with a social setting. Finally there areabecedaria and nonsense inscriptions, though these are largely confined to black-figure pots.[45]
Greek terracotta figurines were another important type of pottery, initially mostly religious, but increasingly representing purely decorative subjects. The so-calledTanagra figurines, in fact made elsewhere as well, are one of the most important types. Earlier figurines were usuallyvotive offerings at temples.
Several clay vases owed their inspiration to metalwork forms in bronze, silver and sometimes gold. These were increasingly used by the elite when dining, but were not placed in graves, where they would have been robbed, and were often treated as a store of value to be traded as bullion when needed. Very few metal vessels have survived as at some point they were melted down and the metal reused.
In recent decades many scholars have questioned the conventional relationship between the two materials, seeing much more production of painted vases than was formerly thought as made to be placed in graves, as a cheaper substitute for metalware in both Greece and Etruria. The painting itself may also copy that on metal vessels more closely than was thought.[46]
TheDerveni Krater, from nearThessaloniki, is a large bronzevolute krater from about 320 BC, weighing 40 kilograms, and finely decorated with a 32-centimetre-tall frieze of figures in relief representingDionysus surrounded byAriadne and her procession ofsatyrs andmaenads.
Thealabastron's name derives fromalabaster, from which it was originally made.[47] Glass was also used, mostly for fancy small perfume bottles, though someHellenistic glass rivalled metalwork in quality and probably price.
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