History of Ancient Pottery 1

History of Ancient Pottery 1

History of Ancient Pottery. Volume 1 (of 2)

Greek, Etruscan, and Roman

: H. B. Walters

 

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOLUME I

 

WITH 300 ILLUSTRATIONS

INCLUDING 8 COLOURED PLATES

 

[ILLUSTRATION]

 

LONDON

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.

1905

 

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PRINTED BY

HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,

LONDON AND AYLESBURY.

 

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PREFACE

 

 

In 1857 Dr. Samuel Birch issued his well-known work on ancient pottery,

at that time almost the first attempt at dealing with the whole subject

in a comprehensive manner. Sixteen years later, in 1873, he brought out

a second edition, in some respects condensed, in others enlarged and

brought up to date. But it is curious to reflect that the succeeding

sixteen years should not only have doubled or even trebled the material

available for a study of this subject, but should even have

revolutionised that study. The year 1889 also saw the completion of the

excavations of the Acropolis at Athens, which did much to settle the

question of the chronology of Attic vases. Yet another sixteen years,

and if the increase in actual bulk of material is relatively not so

great, yet the advance in the study of pottery, especially that of the

primitive periods, has been astounding; and while in 1857, and even in

1873, it was impossible to do much more than collect and co-ordinate

material, in 1905 Greek ceramics have become one of the most advanced

and firmly based branches of classical archaeology.

 

It therefore implies no slur on the reputation of Samuel Birch’s work

that it has become out of date. Up till now it has remained the only

comprehensive treatise, and therefore the standard work, on the

subject; but of late years there has been a crying need, especially in

England, of a book which should place before students a condensed and

up-to-date account of Greek vases and of the present state of knowledge

of the subject. The present volumes, while following in the main the

plan adopted by Dr. Birch, necessarily deviate therefrom in some

important particulars. It has been decided to omit entirely the section

relating to Oriental pottery, partly from considerations of space,

partly from the impossibility of doing justice to the subject except in

a separate treatise; for the same reason the pottery of the Celts and

of Northern Europe has been ignored. Part I. of the present work,

dealing chiefly with the technical aspect of the subject, remains in

its main outlines much as it was thirty years ago; but the other

sections have been entirely re-written. For the historical account of

vase-painting in Birch’s second edition one chapter of forty pages

sufficed; it now extends to six chapters, or one quarter of the work.

The subjects on the vases, again, occupy four chapters instead of two;

and modern researches have made it possible to treat the subjects of

Etruscan and Roman pottery with almost the same scientific knowledge as

that of Greece.

 

A certain amount of repetition in the various sections will, it is

hoped, be pardoned on the ground that it was desirable to make each

section as far as possible complete in itself; and another detail which

may provoke unfavourable criticism is the old difficulty of the

spelling of Greek names and words. In regard to the latter the author

admits that consistency has not been attained, but his aim has been

rather to avoid unnecessary Latinising on the one hand and pedantry on

the other.

 

Finally, the author desires to express his warmest acknowledgments to

all who have been of assistance to him in his work, by their writings

or otherwise, especially to a friend, desiring to be nameless, who has

kindly read through the proofs and made many useful suggestions; to the

invaluable works of many foreign scholars, more particularly those of

M. Pottier, M. Salomon Reinach, and M. Déchelette, he owes a debt which

even a constant acknowledgment in the text hardly repays. Thanks are

also due to the Trustees of the British Museum for kind permission to

reproduce their blocks for Figs. 75, 109, 118, 125, 128, 131, 138, 185,

191, and 197, to M. Déchelette for permission to reproduce from his

work the vases given in Figs. 224, 226, and to the Committee of the

British School at Athens for similar facilities in regard to Plate XIV.

(pottery from Crete). Lastly, but by no means least, the author desires

to express to Mr. Hallam Murray his deep sense of obligation for the

warm interest he has shown in the work throughout and for the pains he

has taken to ensure the success of its outward appearance.

 

H. B. W.

 

LONDON, _January 1905_.

 

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CONTENTS OF VOLUME I

 

 

PAGE

 

 

PREFACE v

 

CONTENTS OF VOLUME I ix

 

LIST OF PLATES IN VOLUME I xiii

 

LIST OF TEXT-ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME I xv

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ANCIENT POTTERY xix

 

NOTE ON ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS WORK xxxvi

 

 

PART I

 

GREEK POTTERY IN GENERAL

 

CHAPTER I

_INTRODUCTORY_

 

Importance of study of ancient monuments—Value of pottery as

evidence of early civilisation—Invention of the art—Use of

brick in Babylonia—The potter’s wheel—Enamel and

glazes—Earliest Greek pottery—Use of study of

vases—Ethnological, historical, mythological, and artistic

aspects—Earliest writings on the subject—The “Etruscan”

theory—History of the study of Greek vases—Artistic,

epexegetic, and historical methods—The vase-collections of

Europe and their history—List of existing collections 1–30

 

 

CHAPTER II

 

_SITES AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF DISCOVERY OF GREEK VASES_

 

Historical and geographical limits of subject—Description of

Greek tombs—Tombs in Cyprus, Cyrenaica, Sicily,

Italy—Condition of vases when found—Subsequent

restorations—Imitations and forgeries—Prices of vases—Sites

on which painted vases have been found: Athens, Corinth,

Boeotia, Greek islands, Crimea, Asia Minor, Cyprus, North

Africa, Italy, Etruria—Vulci discoveries—Southern Italy,

Sicily 31–88

 

 

CHAPTER III

 

_THE USES OF CLAY_

 

Technical terms—Sun-dried clay and unburnt bricks—Use of

these in Greece—Methods of manufacture—Roof-tiles and

architectural decorations in terracotta—Antefixal

ornaments—Sicilian and Italian systems—Inscribed

tiles—Sarcophagi—Braziers—Moulds—Greek lamps—Sculpture in

terracotta—Origin of art—Large statues in

terracotta—Statuettes—Processes of

manufacture—Moulding—Colouring—Vases with plastic

decoration—Reliefs—Toys—Types and uses of

statuettes—Porcelain and enamelled wares—Hellenistic and

Roman enamelled fabrics 89–130

 

 

CHAPTER IV

 

_USES AND SHAPES OF GREEK VASES_

 

Mention of painted vases in literature—Civil and domestic

use of pottery—Measures of capacity—Use in daily

life—Decorative use—Religious and votive uses—Use in funeral

ceremonies—Shapes and their names—Ancient and modern

classifications—Vases for storage—Pithos—Wine-

amphora—Amphora—Stamnos—Hydria—Vases for

mixing—Krater—Deinos or Lebes—Cooking-vessels—Vases for

pouring wine—Oinochoë and variants—Ladles—Drinking-

cups—Names recorded by

Athenaeus—Kotyle—Skyphos—Kantharos—Kylix—Phiale—

Rhyton—Dishes—Oil-

vases—Lekythos—Alabastron—Pyxis—Askos—Moulded vases 131–201

 

 

CHAPTER V

 

_TECHNICAL PROCESSES_

 

Nature of clay—Places whence obtained—Hand-made

vases—Invention of potter’s wheel—Methods of

modelling—Moulded vases and relief-

decoration—Baking—Potteries and furnaces—Painted vases and

their classification—Black varnish—Methods of

painting—Instruments and colours employed—Status of potters

in antiquity 202–233

 

 

PART II

 

HISTORY OF GREEK VASE-PAINTING

 

CHAPTER VI

 

_PRIMITIVE FABRICS_

 

Introductory—Cypriote Bronze-Age

pottery—Classification—Mycenaean pottery in Cyprus—Graeco-

Phoenician fabrics—Shapes and decoration—Hellenic and later

vases—Primitive pottery in Greece—Troy—Thera and

Cyclades—Crete—Recent discoveries—Mycenaean

pottery—Classification and distribution—Centres of

fabric—Ethnography and chronology 234–276

 

 

CHAPTER VII

 

_RISE OF VASE-PAINTING IN GREECE_

 

Geometrical decoration—Its origin—Distribution of

pottery—Shapes and ornamentation of vases—Subjects—Dipylon

vases—Boeotian Geometrical wares—Chronology—Proto-Attic

fabrics—Phaleron ware—Later Boeotian vases—Melian

amphorae—Corinth and its pottery—“Proto-Corinthian”

vases—Vases with imbrications and floral decoration—Incised

lines and ground-ornaments—Introduction of figure-

subjects—Chalcidian vases—“Tyrrhenian Amphorae” 277–327

 

 

CHAPTER VIII

 

_VASE-PAINTING IN IONIA_

 

General characteristics—Classification—Mycenaean

influence—Rhodian pottery—“Fikellura” ware—Asia Minor

fabrics—Cyrenaic vases—Naukratis and its pottery—Daphnae

ware—Caeretan hydriae—Other Ionic fabrics—“Pontic”

vases—Early painting in Ionia—Clazomenae sarcophagi 328–367

 

 

CHAPTER IX

 

_ATHENIAN BLACK-FIGURED VASES_

 

Definition of “black-figured”—The François vase—Technical

and stylistic details—Shapes—Decorative patterns—Subjects

and types—Artists’ signatures—Exekias and Amasis—Minor

Artists—Nikosthenes—Andokides—“Affected” vases—Panathenaic

amphorae—Vases from the Kabeirion—Opaque painting on black

ground—Vase-painting and literary tradition—Early Greek

painting and its subsequent development 368–399

 

 

CHAPTER X

 

_RED-FIGURED VASES_

 

Origin of red-figure style—Date of introduction—Καλός-names

and historical personages—Technical characteristics—Draughts

manship—Shapes—Ornamentation—Subjects and types—Subdivisions

of style—Severe period and artists—Strong

period—Euphronios—Duris, Hieron, and Brygos—Fine

period—Influence of Polygnotos—Later fine period—Boeotian

local fabric 400–453

 

 

CHAPTER XI

 

_WHITE-GROUND AND LATER FABRICS_

 

Origin and character of white-ground painting—Outline

drawing and polychromy