History of Ancient Pottery 11

History of Ancient Pottery 11

The vases found in _Melos_ amount to a considerable number, of

different ages and styles.[152] Recent excavations by the British

School on the site of Phylakopi brought to light large quantities, not

only of Mycenaean, but of pre-Mycenaean remains, including

pottery.[153] Mr. Thomas Burgon’s collection included many B.F. and

later vases from Melos, now in the British Museum; they are mostly

small and unimportant. Ross also saw painted vases in Melos.[154] The

island is, however, chiefly celebrated for a class of early vases, few

in number, but of exceptional merit, which have mostly been found in

the island, and so are known as “Melian” amphorae (see below, p. 301).

Recently, however, large numbers of fragments of similar pottery have

been found at Rheneia, opposite Delos, and it is possible that Delos

was the centre of the fabric, not Melos, as hitherto supposed.[155]

They date from the seventh century B.C. Among the finds of later date

from Melos, by far the most noteworthy is the Louvre Gigantomachia

krater (see Chapter XII.).[156]

 

Turning now to the eastern group of Aegean Islands, known as the

_Sporades_, we begin with _Lesbos_, where many fragments of B.F. and

R.F. vases were found by Mr. Newton during his Vice-Consulate. From

epigraphical evidence it seems probable that many of the early B.F.

fragments found at Naukratis (see below) should be attributed to a

Lesbian fabric, but this has not so far been established. Vases have

also been found in Tenedos and Chios.[157]

 

Next we come to _Samos_, an island always renowned in antiquity for its

fictile ware. The Homeric hymn to the potters is addressed to Samians.

It was, however, in Roman times that its renown was especially great,

and its connection with a certain class of red glazed wares has caused

the name of “Samian Ware” to be applied indiscriminately but falsely to

all Roman pottery of that kind.[158] Finds of pottery have, however,

been few and far between. The British Museum possesses a lekythos of

the B.F. period in the form of a sandalled foot (Plate XLVI.), which

Mr. Finlay obtained here. More recently Dr. Böhlau excavated some early

cemeteries, and found a considerable quantity of pottery of the “Ionic”

type, which enabled him to establish a Samian origin for certain wares

of the sixth century.[159] _Kalymnos_ was explored by Mr. Newton in

1856, but has yielded little beyond plain glazed ware,[160] and the

same may be said of Kos, although the latter was famed in antiquity for

its amphorae and culinary vessels. The small islands of _Telos_,[161]

_Nisyros_, _Chiliodromia_,[162] and _Karpathos_ have been explored at

different times by Ross, Theodore Bent, and others, and have yielded

vases of a late R.F. period, corresponding to the later Athenian

fabrics, several of which are in the British Museum. Messrs. Bent and

Paton have also found pottery of the Mycenaean period in Kalymnos and

Karpathos[163]; and similar remains are reported from _Kos_.[164]

 

But all other discoveries in the islands are far exceeded both in

extent and importance by those of =Rhodes=.[165] They are principally

due to the labours of Messrs. Salzmann and Biliotti, who diligently

explored the island during the ’sixties, and the results as far as

pottery is concerned, extend from Mycenaean times down to the

destruction of Kameiros in 404 B.C. The earliest finds were on the site

of _Ialysos_, and these are exclusively of “Mycenaean” type. The tombs

containing Mycenaean vases were cut in the rock in quadrangular form,

with vaulted δρόμος and steps. This site was explored by the

above-named gentlemen about the years 1867–70, and the results of the

excavation, by the liberality of Prof. Ruskin, found their way into the

British Museum. Their archaeological value was not recognised for some

years; but when the discoveries of Mycenae became known, it was at once

seen that the Ialysos pottery must fall into line with them.

 

_Kameiros_ is first heard of as a Dorian colony of the eleventh

century, and its history extends down to 408 B.C. It was fully and

systematically excavated between 1859 and 1864. Far more abundant and

comprehensive than the Ialysos results, the Kameiros finds illustrate

the history of Greek pottery from the Geometrical period[166] down to

the time of its decline, and include many fine specimens of the B.F.

and R.F. periods, as well as numerous examples of the Rhodian,

Corinthian, and other early classes, from the eighth to the sixth

century B.C. The most interesting discovery was perhaps that of the

_pinax_, with the fight over the body of Euphorbos, which is described

elsewhere (p. 335). Among the finer specimens of the later period is

the polychrome _pelike_ with Peleus wooing Thetis. The majority of

these finds are now in the British Museum, together with porcelain,

bronze, and other objects illustrating the early pottery; part also

went to the Louvre and to Berlin. The latest vases are of the free and

careless type of late R.F. Athenian fabrics, and since they are known

to be not later than the fifth century they supply valuable evidence

for the dating of R.F. vases.

 

=Crete= in all probability will, before many years are over, supply a

great mass of material for the history of early Greek pottery. Until

recent years it has received little attention from travellers or

explorers, and few vases of any period have come therefrom into our

Museums.[167] But Crete has always been looked to by archaeologists for

the solution of the Mycenaean problem, and the systematic excavations

now at length set on foot are even richer in their yield of Mycenaean

and primitive pottery than those of Rhodes, Melos, and Cyprus. Mr. J.

L. Myres found at _Kamarais_ in 1894 a series of fragments of painted

pottery with designs in opaque colours on a black ground, which he

regarded as pre-Mycenaean.[168] This theory was subsequently borne out

by the discoveries of Messrs. Arthur Evans and D. G. Hogarth at

_Knossos_ and elsewhere, which have been very rich in pottery of a

similar kind, and also in vases with remarkably naturalistic patterns

in relief.[169] Other finds have been made in the Dictaean Cave,[170]

at Zakro[171] and Palaeokastro,[172] at Phaestos,[173] Praesos, Erganos

and Kourtes, and Kavousi.[174]

 

Before we turn our attention to the continent of Asia we must hark back

to the European mainland, working round by the northern coasts of the

Aegaean and Euxine Seas. Macedonia and Thrace have yielded scarcely

anything,[175] but when we come to the northern shore of the Black Sea

we find at _Kertch_, in the Crimea (the ancient Panticapaeum), a

remarkable centre of Greek artistic production. The finds here are

practically limited to one period, covering little more than a hundred

years, and mainly illustrate the art of the fourth century B.C. There

are, however, many magnificent vases, which in style, if not in shape

or composition of subjects, must belong to an earlier time—namely, that

of the fine red-figured period.[176] The excavations have mostly been

undertaken by the Russian Government, in whose museum at the Hermitage

the collections are now to be seen, but much was done unsystematically

by Englishmen and others at the time of the Crimean War. It cannot be

said that more than about one-quarter of the total find of 400 vases

have any merit; they are chiefly small, with red figures, and of the

later fine period; some are polychrome and ornamented with

gilding.[177] The most remarkable by far is the vase signed by the

Athenian Xenophantos (p. 447); but that with the contest of Athena and

Poseidon (Plate L.) is also an exceptionally fine specimen; and others

have interesting subjects relating to the Eleusinian mysteries. At

_Phanagoria_ an early B.F. vase of Ionic style came to light.[178]

Vases have also been found at Olbia on the neighbouring mainland, at

Kief, at Temir Gora in Circassia, and on the modern sites of Blisnitza,

Iouz Oba, Melek Chesme and Pavlovski-Kourgane in the Crimea.[179]

 

II. ASIA MINOR

 

_The Troad_ first claims our attention. Here on the site of the second

city of Troy, at Hissarlik, Dr. Schliemann found the earliest pottery

at present known from Greek soil (see Chapter VI.). This has been

generally dated about 2500–2000 B.C. In subsequent excavations Dr.

Dörpfeld proved the sixth city to be the Homeric Troy, the remains from

which, including pottery, are all of Mycenaean character. Later finds

of pottery from the Troad are of no great importance[180]; some are of

Aeolic or Ionian origin, and others seem to be from an inferior local

fabric, consisting of flat bowls with looped side-handles, carelessly

painted in matt-black silhouette with figures of ducks and other

animals. Some of these were found in 1855–56 by Mr. Brunton on the

sites of New Ilium and Dardanus; others by Mr. Calvert in 1875–76, and

by Dörpfeld and Brueckner in 1893. The finds of the two first-named are

in the British Museum, together with some poor R.F. vases of late

style. From _Sigeion_ two polychrome lekythi have been reported,

resembling the Attic white-ground fabric[181]; Jahn also records finds

of painted vases from _Lampsakos_ and Parion,[182] and a fine gilded

vase with figures in relief has recently been found on the former

site.[183]

 

In _Aeolis_ and _Mysia_ the finds have not been considerable, but some

are of importance as throwing light on the existence of local fabrics.

In a private collection at Smyrna there is or was a late B.F. vase from

Assos, with careless silhouette figures.[184] At _Pitane_ a very

curious Mycenaean false amphora has been found, with figures of marine

and other animals[185]; and at _Larisa_ Dr. Böhlau has found fragments

of early painted vases, probably a local fabric imitating that of

Rhodes.[186] MM. Pottier and Reinach, in the course of their

excavations at Myrina (1884–85), found pottery of various dates and

styles: Mycenaean, Ionian, Corinthian, Attic B.F. and R.F., late R.F.,

and vases of the so-called Gnatia style (see p. 488) or with

reliefs.[187] Among those which can be traced to an Ionic or local

fabric there is a very remarkable one with a head of a bearded man.

Pergamon does not seem to have yielded any vases, but _Kyme_ may have

been a centre of Ionic vase-manufacture (see Chapter VIII.). Some

fragments of an early B.F. krater have been found there which presents

similar characteristics to those of the Ionian fabrics mentioned

below.[188]

 

Coming lower down the coast of Ionia we meet with the home of an

important school of painting in the sixth century, which seems to have

centred in the flourishing cities of Phocaea, Clazomenae and elsewhere

round the Gulf of Smyrna. The actual finds of such vases in the

neighbourhood is not great, but is compensated for by the remarkable

series of painted terracotta sarcophagi discovered at Clazomenae, the

finest of which is now in the British Museum. These, which obviously

represent the characteristics of the Ionian school of painting, show

such a close relation with a series of vases found at Naukratis and

Daphnae in Egypt, and at Cervetri and elsewhere in Italy,

 

[Illustration:

 

MAP OF ASIA MINOR & THE ARCHIPELAGO

Showing sites on which painted vases have been found.

FIG. 6.

]

 

that the latter classes can only be regarded as of Ionian origin, or,

if not imported, local Italian imitations of the Ionic wares. Such are

the Caeretan hydriae which were directly imitated by the Etruscans.[189]

 

A vase obtained at _Phocaea_ by Mr. W. M. Ramsay in 1880 (p. 254)

appears to be an imported Cypriote fabric of late date, though archaic

in appearance. At Smyrna little has been found, but there are some

vases attributed thereto in the Leyden Museum. At _Clazomenae_ some

fragments of painted vases in the style of the Caeretan hydriae have

recently been found, which help to establish the theories above

mentioned.[190] _Teos_ is associated with a particular kind of cup

(Τήιαι κυλίχναι) mentioned by the poet Alcaeus,[191] but nothing has

been found there, nor yet at Kolophon, Ephesos, or Miletos. In the

interior regions of Asia primitive painted pottery is recorded from

_Mount Sipylos_,[192] and also from _Sardis_ on the sites of the tombs

of the Lydian kings. From the tumulus known as Bin Tepe on the latter

site the British Museum has obtained (through the agency of Mr. Dennis)

some early pottery, which is decorated apparently in direct imitation

of Phoenician glass wares. Fragments of Mycenaean and other primitive

fabrics are reported from Cappadocia and from Gordion in Galatia,[193]

and have been recently picked up by Prof. W. M. Ramsay at Derbe in

Lycaonia.

 

In _Caria_ early local fabrics seem to be indicated by finds at Mylasa

and Stratonikeia (Idrias).[194] At _Assarlik_ Mr. W. R. Paton found

pottery of a transitional character from Mycenaean to Geometrical.

Tralles and Knidos were famous in antiquity for pottery,[195] but have

left virtually nothing, nor has Halicarnassos. A Mycenaean false

amphora is reported from Telmessos in Lycia, and fragments of B.F. and

R.F. vases from Xanthos.[196]

 

From the distant site of _Susa_ in Persia an interesting find has been

recently reported,[197] of part of a R.F. rhyton in the form of a

horse’s head, on which is painted the figure of a Persian in polychrome

on a white ground. It belongs to the period 500–480 B.C., and may have

been carried off by the Persians when they sacked the Athenian

Acropolis.

 

=Cyprus.=—This island is of special interest to us as being now the

only classical land in our own possession. Although we have not perhaps

utilised to the full extent the opportunities thereby afforded us for

excavations, yet of late years much has been done, especially by the

British Museum, to remedy this defect, and the collection of Cypriote

antiquities in the national museum is now fully worthy of that

institution and as representative as could be wished. Previous to the

English occupation the island remained undisturbed, with a few

exceptions, the first being the excavations of Mr. R. Lang at Dali

(Idalion) in 1867. The finds here were chiefly of terracottas and

sculpture, and are now in the British Museum, but, owing to the

misconception of Cypriote history that formerly prevailed, have been

somewhat incongruously placed in the Oriental Department. Meanwhile,

another consul, General L. Cesnola, was not slow to make use of his

opportunities, seeing in the obvious richness of the field, the chances

of gaining great distinction as an explorer. Of his energy and

liberality in the cause there can be little doubt; but he was not an

archaeologist, and did not realise the value of scientific evidence,

negative or positive. Hence, although he deserves a meed of praise as

the pioneer of Cypriote exploration, his statements are not always

sufficiently explicit to be used without hesitation. His extensive

collections are now in the Metropolitan Museum at New York; the British

Museum has a few of the vases, but lost the opportunity of acquiring

the whole. Another English consul, Mr. Sandwith, also made a collection

of Cypriote pottery, and, with an acuteness in advance of his time,

made a successful attempt to classify it according to periods and

styles. Lastly, a brother of General Cesnola’s, A. P. di Cesnola, who

lived for some time in the island, made large collections in the same

manner as his brother, but with the same lack of scientific accuracy.

 

The record of discoveries since 1878 has been carefully systematised by

Mr. J. L. Myres, who has given an excellent summary of results.[198]

The cemeteries in which the island is so extraordinarily rich may be

divided into two classes: Bronze Age tombs, including Mycenaean and

earlier remains; and Graeco-Phoenician, with tombs of Hellenistic and

Roman date. On some sites, such as Curium and Salamis, tombs of all

periods are found.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 7. MAP OF CYPRUS.]

 

Mr. Myres notes about thirty sites on which Bronze Age pottery has been

discovered, mostly in the centre and east of the island, _i.e._ in the

more level and cultivated districts. The most important sites are

Enkomi (Salamis), Curium, Alambra, Agia Paraskevi (Nicosia), Maroni,

and Larnaka (several sites), at all of which Mycenaean pottery has been

found, Enkomi being especially rich in this respect; others only

contained local varieties, either of the earliest incised wares or of

the hand-made pottery which seems to have been a later development.

 

Graeco-Phoenician pottery (700–300 B.C.) has been found in great

quantities in all parts of the island, chiefly at Amathus, Dali,

Larnaka (Kition), Curium, Poli (Marion), Paphos (Kouklia), Salamis, and

Tamassos. In conjunction therewith Hellenic vases have appeared at

Amathus, Curium, Salamis, and especially at Poli, where some really

fine R.F. vases have been found, some with artists’ names.[199]

Hellenistic pottery has appeared on most of the above sites, Poli and

Curium supplying the best examples. The different varieties of Cypriote

pottery are described in detail in Chapter VI.

 

III. AFRICA

 

Greek settlements in Africa were far fewer than in Asia, and in fact

only two appear to have had any importance, these being the Ionic

colony in the Egyptian Delta and the Dorian colony from Thera in the

Cyrenaica. Mycenaean vases have, however, appeared spasmodically in

Egyptian tombs of the eighteenth to twenty-first dynasties, the

evidence for the date of those at Tell-el-Amarna (c. 1400 B.C.) being

apparently well established. It should also be noted that pre-Mycenaean

wares corresponding to the second city pottery at Hissarlik and the

Kamaraes (Crete) pottery have been found at Kahun and elsewhere in the

_Fayûm_, in tombs of the twelfth and thirteenth dynasties (2500–2000

B.C.).[200]

 

Painted and other pottery of the Hellenistic age has not infrequently

been found in Egypt; the British Museum acquired a specimen from

_Alexandria_ in 1898 with a boy riding on a fish painted in opaque pink

and blue on a red unglazed ground. Other examples come from

Naukratis,[201] and from the Fayûm.[202] At Alexandria, where for

obvious reasons no vases earlier than the third century could have come

to light, a hydria was found in the catacombs with a myrtle-wreath

painted on a light ground; this when discovered was filled with

bones.[203] Other vases of the same type are said to be in the Louvre.

In Mons. G. Feuardent’s collection in New York, the late Prof. Merriam

saw a group of seventy-five vases from rock-cut tombs at Alexandria,

some with inscriptions.[204] They include hydriae of a dark red clay,

covered with a white slip on which are polychrome designs (Gorgoneia,

armour, etc.); others of unglazed salmon-coloured clay, painted with

wreaths, monsters, etc.; two-handled vases of black ware with ribbed

body and twisted handles, decorated with medallions in relief and

wreaths in white, like the vases of Gnatia (p. 488). The inscriptions

are laid on in ink with a reed, or incised, the former being in MS.

type; the method of dating is difficult to interpret, but they seem to

belong to the middle of the third century.

 

The Ionian settlements of _Naukratis_ and _Daphnae_ (Defenneh) in the

Delta have yielded very important results for the history of Greek

pottery, though differing in extent. The finds of pottery at Daphnae

may from the circumstances of discovery be dated entirely between 600

and 550 B.C.; and though only fragmentary, they are interesting not

only as showing the results of Egyptian influences, but for the points

of comparison they afford with the pottery of Ionic origin and the

Clazomenae sarcophagi. At Naukratis, on the other hand, the finds form

a complete series extending from the foundation of the city by

Milesians about 650 B.C., down to the end of the fifth century, at

which point importations of Greek pottery ceased. The earlier fabrics

are by far the most important, being almost entirely of local character

and distinguished by the white ground on which the Naucratite artist

painted his designs or figures in various colours. Among the fragments

of B.F. pottery were many with names of artists. These finds were all

made among the rubbish-heaps of temple-sites by the Egypt Exploration

Fund in 1884–86, with the exception of some subsequent work by the

British School in 1898–99. Most of the results are in the British

Museum: see also p. 345 ff.

 

In the second season (1885–86) at Naukratis were found several

interesting fragments of a B.F. white-ground ware, which from the

nature of the designs has been connected with _Kyrene_ (see Chapter

VIII., p. 341). But so far no specimens of this ware have been found in

the latter place, nor indeed anything earlier than the end of the fifth

century. It is to be hoped that the earlier cemeteries are yet to be

discovered. Mr. George Dennis and others, however, explored a

considerable tract of country in the Cyrenaica between 1856 and

1868,[205] and found many vases of late R.F. style, some of

considerable merit; also several Panathenaic amphorae of the fourth

century on which the old B.F. method of painting is preserved. These

were found on the site of _Teucheira_, but most of the vases came from

_Benghazi_, the ancient Euesperitis, more to the south-west, the

ancient name of which, Berenike, came from the queen of Ptolemy

Euergetes. Nearly all the vases found here are of the late fine R.F.

period, corresponding to those of the Crimea; they are, however, mostly

smaller and inferior in merit. The Panathenaic amphorae can be dated by

the names of Athenian archons which appear upon them: Nikokrates, 333

B.C.; Hegesias, 324 B.C.; Kephisodoros, 323 B.C.; Archippos, 321 B.C.;

and Theophrastos, 313 B.C. (see p. 390). They are of course

importations from Athens. Among the R.F. vases is one representing a

Persian king attacked by a lion; some have polychrome designs, in one

case combined with reliefs (B.M. G 12). Most of the Cyrenaica vases are

now in the British Museum and the Louvre.

 

IV. ITALY

 

With the mainland of Italy we include in our review the two islands of

Sicily and Sardinia. The remaining area in which Greek pottery has been

found on classical sites thus corresponds with the modern kingdom of

Italy. Beyond its borders there is only one site, that of _Massilia_

(Marseilles), which has produced Greek pottery. Vases of the primitive

Thera style (see p. 261) were found here,[206] betokening a system of

commerce between East and West in those times.

 

The vases found in Greece may be regarded as on the whole small in size

and few in number, when compared with those discovered in the ancient

cemeteries and on the sites of the old cities of Italy. These are

indeed so numerous that (within certain limits) they might in

themselves almost serve as a basis for the history of Greek

vase-painting. Roughly speaking, the vases found in Italy fall into two

geographical divisions.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 8. MAP OF ITALY.]

 

The first division comprises the vases discovered in Etruria, which are

found in every Etruscan city of importance, from Atria or Hadria at the

mouth of the Po to the very gates of Rome itself. In particular, the

tombs of Caere, Tarquinii, and above all Vulci, have yielded an immense

number of vases.

 

The second is formed by the vases found in the southern half of the

peninsula, including the territories of Campania, Lucania, and Apulia,

and the cities of Magna Graecia, such as Cumae, Locri and Tarentum. The

establishment of the potter’s art in these maritime cities at an early

stage of Greek history helped to infuse a certain degree of

civilisation into the regions of the interior, and its influence is to

be seen in the pottery of the semi-barbarous populations, such as the

Osco-Samnites and Iapygians. The chief sites for the discovery of vases