Greek Pottery

Introduc)on of Greek Po0ery
Reading:
Stokstad, 117-‐119, 127-‐128,
141-‐142.

Range:
600-‐31 BCE
Archaic, Classical, Hellenis7c

Terms/Concepts:
black ﬁgure, red ﬁgure, white
ground, kiln, slip, oxidiza)on,
reduc)on, reoxidiza)on, pinax, slip,
kylix, amphora, lekythos, alabastron,
krater, symposium, liba)ons,
Panathenaic fes)val, ko0abos,
hetaira,
Monument List:
  Pg. 119, Euphronios (painter)
and Euxitheos (po0er),
Euphronios Krater, Archaic, c.
515 BCE.
  5-‐1, Exekias, Achilles and Ajax
Playing a Game, Black-‐Figure
Amphora, Archaic, 540-‐530 BCE.
  5-‐58, Priam Painter, Women at
Fountain House, Greek, AXc,
Black-‐Figure, ca. 520-‐510 BCE
  Not in Book, Niobid Painter,
Niobid Krater, Early Classical,
475-‐450 BCE

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Why Study Greek Vases?
1.  Greek po0ery depicts many scenes from
everyday life that o]en go unrecorded.
2.  It expands our understanding of pain)ngs on
a larger scale.
3.  It extensively explores mythology/literature
beyond the text.
4.  Residue from pots gives valuable insight into
the Greek diet.

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Chronology

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“Euphronios painted me”
“Euxitheos made me”

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Digging the Clay

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Se0ling the Clay
398 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY [AJA 82
FIG. 6. Modern Greek pottery workshop

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Forming the Pot

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“Pain)ng” the Pots

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Black Figure

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Red Figure

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White Ground

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FIG. 7. Munich 1717. Black-figure hydria
Dionysos. The mask of Dionysos appears on a num-
ber of vases, both by itself21 and as part of scenes of
open-air location is consistent with the workshop
arrangement suggested by the placement of figures
Feeding the Kiln

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Firing
1.  Oxida)on
2.  Reduc)on
3.  Reoxida)on
4.  Cooling

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treated raw clay and in the center are two settling
basins. In the right-hand basin the clay has been cut
into slabs for ease of handling. Although both scenes
on the Robinson skyphos might be interpreted as
showing a simple mass of raw clay, the different types
of stippling incision strongly suggest two stages of
purification comparable to the effects of the settling
basins. Thus the herringbone-hatched mass on side B
FIG. 5. Providence 25109. Red-figure lekythos
The Kiln
If you will pay me for my song, O po0ers,
Then come, Athena, and hold thy hand above the kiln!
May the kotyloi and all the kanastra turn a good black,
May they be well ﬁred and fetch the price asked,
Many being sold in the marketplace and many on the roads,
And bring in much money, and may my song be pleasing.
But if you (po0ers) turn shameless and deceigul,
Then do I summon the ravagers of kilns,
Both Syntrips (Smather) and Smaragos (Crasher) and
Asbetos (Unquenchable) too, and Sabaktes (Shake-‐to-‐Pieces)
And Omodamos (Conqueror of the Unbaked), who makes
much trouble for this cra].
Stamp on stoking tunnel and chambers, and may the whole kiln
Be thrown into confusing, while the po0ers loudly wail.
As grinds a horse’s jaw so may the kiln grind
To powder all the pots within it.
[Come, too, daughter of the Sun, Circe of many spells,
Cast cruel spells, do evil to them and their handiwork.
Here too let Cheiron lead many Centaurs,
Both those that escaped the hands of Herakles and those that perished.
May they his these pots hard, and may the kiln collapse.
And may the po0ers wail as they see the mischief.
But I shall rejoiced at the sight of their luckless cra].]
And if anyone bends over to look into the spy-‐hole, may his whole face
Be scorched, so that all may learn to deal justly.

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Decora)ve Mo)fs: Key Meander
en though under both handles the figure
ppears to be the base of the herm behind
emphasized in the case of the youth to the
B (fig. 2), where the herm base seems
over him.
mass of material in the center of each
sonably be interpreted as clay-but not a
parison with classical kilns shows little if
nce in shape to the mass here."1 The two
d examples for the study of Attic kiln
are the seventh century kiln found under
uildings at the site of the Tholos in the
the fourth century kiln excavated in the
1" Considering the difference in dates, the
arkably similar. In both cases, the kiln is
in plan and has clay surfacing on the
lls. A central column in both examples
here was an upper chamber. This could
een covered with a dome after the vases
cked. The shape is paralleled by the kilns
n the Penteskouphia plaquesl4 and on a
kythos in Providence'" (fig. 5). The
yphos, however, seems to show two some-
nt subjects. On both sides the shape of the
suggests a truncated cone rather than
ristic dome profile of a kiln. Moreover,
t of the surface is quite different on the
nd in neither case is there any indication
e, spyhole or door to the pottery chamber,
e of which, from the examples on the
uld normally be represented. Neither in
surface treatment, then, do these masses
ng but the vaguest resemblance to either
d or the illustrated kilns. The craftsman-
Theseus Painter is too good to allow us
his as ineptitude on his part. An alterna-
must be sought.
ry part of a potter's workshop is a series
r the preparation of the raw clay. "This
hed . . . by mixing water with the clay
he mixture stand in a large settling basin.
mpurities fall to the bottom and the upper
and water is pumped or bailed into an
be seen in the courtyard of a modern Greek pottery
workshop17 (fig. 6). At the far left is a mass of un-
treated raw clay and in the center are two settling
basins. In the right-hand basin the clay has been cut
into slabs for ease of handling. Although both scenes
on the Robinson skyphos might be interpreted as
showing a simple mass of raw clay, the different types
of stippling incision strongly suggest two stages of
purification comparable to the effects of the settling
basins. Thus the herringbone-hatched mass on side B
FIG. 5. Providence 25109. Red-figure lekythos

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Decora)ve Mo)fs: Palme0es

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Decora)ve Mo)fs: Ivy

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Decora)ve Mo)fs: Egg and Dart

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Everyday Life: Symposium

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Everyday Life: Symposium
Makron (Painter) and Hieron (Po0er), Red-‐Figure Kylix
with Symposium Scenes, Greek, AXc, c. 480 BCE.

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Everyday Life: Fetching Water

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Hydria with Fountain Scene, Greek, AXc, Black-‐
Figure, ca. 510-‐500 BCE

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Everyday Life: The Toile0e

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Everyday Life: Theater

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Everyday Life:
Panathenaic Fes)val

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Everyday Life: Panathenaic Fes)val

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Mythological Scenes:
Dionysus and the Pirates

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Mythological Scenes: Trojan War

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Ajax

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Mythological Scenes

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Cri)cal Thinking Ques)ons
1.  Why are vases an important aspect of Greek
art to study?
2.  How do the form of the pots correspond to
their uses?
3.  How is the painted decora)on on vases
related to their func)ons?
4.  How are Greek vases a0ributed to some
ar)sts?

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Greek Pottery

Greek Pottery

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