History of Ancient Pottery 13

History of Ancient Pottery 13

In Apulia the site above all others important is that of _Ruvo_, which

was no doubt the chief centre of the local pottery-manufactures, and

has yielded a great majority of the vases known as “Apulian,” as well

as many of earlier style. Excavations began here in the eighteenth

century, but it was not until 1828 that they were undertaken on any

large scale. Vases are still found from time to time at the present

day, and one of the largest private collections still existing, that of

Signor Jatta, is extraordinarily rich in the vases of Apulian style

collected by this gentleman and preserved on the spot. It is curious

that Ruvo (Rubi) had no special importance in antiquity; it may,

however, be worth noting that remains of a pottery with furnaces, etc.,

have come to light.[272] The Apulian vases from Ruvo have no special

characteristics which distinguish them from the other Apulian fabrics.

 

It would be futile to attempt a detailed description of the finds at

Ruvo,[273] which include such a large proportion of the magnificent

Apulian vases covered with paintings of an elaborate nature. Of earlier

specimens, an isolated Corinthian vase, two Panathenaic amphorae, and

sundry other B.F. vases are known, as also occasional R.F. vases, but

these are almost exceptions. Among the most famous Apulian vases are

those representing the Death of Talos, the Death of Archemoros,

preparations for a Satyric Drama, and so on.[274]

 

More important in antiquity, though less productive in vases, is

_Canosa_, the ancient Canusium, where a set of fine vases was first

discovered in 1813 and published by Millin. Among the best of these is

the great Dareios vase at Naples (see Chapter XIV. _ad fin._). Nearly

all are of the Apulian class, with preferences for certain forms and

details (such as the use of purple) not appearing at Ruvo, and a

typical local product is a kind of _prochoös_ or tall jug.[275] Canosa

was also a centre for the large terracotta vases which have been also

found at Calvi (see p. 119).

 

At _Bari_ vases have been found from time to time, and there is a fair

collection in the local museum[276]; they include the famous

Poniatowski vase with Triptolemos’ setting-out, now in the Vatican, and

the krater in the British Museum (F 269) with the burlesque combat of

Ares and Hephaistos over Hera. _Ceglie_ has chiefly supplied the Berlin

Museum with its Apulian specimens (from the Koller collection), others

passing into a private collection at Naples. They are mostly of the

later over-elaborated style.

 

_Altemura_ has supplied a few, but chiefly fine, vases, including the

R.F. krater with the birth of Pandora (Brit. Mus. E 467) and the

magnificent vase representing the Under-world found in 1847 and now in

Naples. Other finds have been made at _Polignano_, _Putignano_, and

_Fasano_ (Gnatia), which last site is interesting as the probable

centre of a late fabric. Most of the vases found here have figures or

patterns painted in opaque white and purple on the black glaze, and

represent the latest stage of vase-painting in Southern Italy.[277]

They are found almost exclusively on this site. It is also represented

by some late R.F. vases with polychrome decoration.

 

In the region covered by the “heel” of Italy the most important site,

as also the most important city in ancient times, is _Taranto_ or

Tarentum. Chiefly on the authority of M. Lenormant,[278] this city was

for a long time regarded as the centre of many South Italian fabrics,

including the vases with burlesque scenes (φλύακες), those of Paestum,

the Fasano ware, and, in fact, all Apulian fabrics. But the extensive

excavations that have taken place at Tarentum of late years have shown

that Lenormant and those who followed him were quite misled. Few

Apulian vases have come to light, the Paestum fabric is unrepresented,

and although the φλύακες of Tarentum were no doubt specially famous in

antiquity, there is no authority for connecting this class of vases

with them to the exclusion of other sites. Vases, in fact, are

extremely rare at Tarentum, which made a much greater speciality of

terracottas, especially of a votive kind; a few B.F. and R.F. specimens

are known,[279] including the remarkable fragment of a R.F. krater in

the British Museum (E 494), and a fine krater with an Amazonomachia

(Bibl. Nat. 421).

 

Vases from _Metapontum_ also are few and far between; the British

Museum possesses a specimen with figures in relief on black ground; and

finds are also reported from _Lecce_, _Brindisi_, and _Oria_.[280] Many

examples of local fabrics, described in Chapter XVIII., have been found

in this district, and specimens are preserved in the museums at Bari,

Lecce, and elsewhere. Lastly we have to speak of the finds made at

_Locri_ on the east side of the “toe” of Italy, the only important site

in that district which has yielded Greek vases. Many of these are white

lekythi with figures in outline and polychrome, resembling the

well-known Athenian fabrics. They were originally (like those of Gela)

thought to be local products, but it is more likely that they were made

at Athens and imported, the Locrians having a particular preference for

these vases, as the people of Nola had for the slim amphorae. Some of

the B.F. and R.F. vases found here are of a very fair order of

merit.[281]

 

=Sicily=, so celebrated for its magnificent works of art, has yielded a

considerable number of painted vases of all periods. The cities of the

southern coast have produced the greatest number, especially Syracuse,

Gela (Terranuova), and Agrigentum (Girgenti). Many have also come from

the cemeteries of Acrae, Leontini, and Megara Hyblaea. Palermo,

Messina, and Catania have produced isolated examples. The richest finds

have been in the recently excavated cemeteries of _Syracuse_. The

discoveries of early vases and fragments made here by Dr. Orsi are of

the utmost importance, and include quantities of specimens of Mycenaean

and “Proto-Corinthian” wares.[282]

 

At _Terranuova_ or Gela, one of the earliest settlements of the island,

vases with black and with red figures were found as long ago as the

eighteenth century,[283] and in 1792 a pottery with furnaces and vases

was discovered in the neighbourhood.[284] Of late years vases with

black and red figures, some of the latter being of the finest style,

have been discovered in large numbers, as well as white lekythi,

probably imported from Athens. Of these finds we have already given

some description (p. 37). In 1862 Mr. George Dennis found a series of

fine R.F. lekythi of the “severe” period, together with B.F. vases and

archaic terracottas, now in the British Museum; and these have been

fully rivalled by Mr. Arthur Evans’ discoveries in later years. The

site has also yielded vases of a primitive character, imitating early

Greek wares. Gela was always noted for its potteries, as the ceramic

decorations of the Geloan Treasury at Olympia show (p. 100); many of

the vases have characteristic Sicilian subjects, and there was

undoubtedly a considerable local fabric.

 

Of the vases found at _Girgenti_ (Agrigentum) the most noteworthy is

the beautiful lebes now in the British Museum,[285] of the finest R.F.

style, described as “one of the finest specimens of Greek ceramography

that has come down to us, absolutely unsurpassed in its combination of

artistic merit and mythological interest.” It was found in 1830, and

belonged to the poet Samuel Rogers; the subject is the combat of

Theseus with the Amazons. Other B.F. and R.F. vases of fine style have

come from this site,[286] as well as a series of moulds for vases with

reliefs, of the Hellenistic period.[287] Fine vases are said to have

been found at _Kamarina_,[288] a few with red figures at _Himera_, and

some archaic lekythi at _Selinus_.[289] From _Lentini_ Jahn records

polychrome and R.F. vases, the latter of the “strong” and later

periods.[290] At _Palazzolo_ (Acrae) B.F. and R.F. vases have been

found, including a B.F. kotyle in the British Museum (B 79),

representing Dionysos in a car formed like a ship. At _Centorbi_

(Centuripae) almost the only find of note was a conical cover of a

large bowl ornamented with encaustic paintings, the colours having been

prepared with wax; parts of two bowls were also found decorated with

designs in relief and gilt, of scrolls, small Cupids, and heads of

Medusa.[291] Other sites that may be mentioned are: Hybla Heraea

(Ragusa),[292] Catania, Alicata,[293] Aderno[294] at the foot of Etna,

and Monte Saraceno.[295]

 

At Tharros, in _Sardinia_, extensive excavations were made in 1856, and

a long series of tombs found containing Phoenician objects in

porcelain, engraved scarabs, terracotta figures, and other objects, but

little painted Greek pottery of any importance.[296] An interesting

krater of late date, with the head of the Satyr Akratos, from the

island of _Lipari_ is now in the collection of Mr. J. Stevenson at

Glasgow[297]; and in _Ischia_ was found a krater with the subject of

the infant Dionysos confided to the Nymphs.[298] In the public museum

of _Malta_ some Greek vases are to be seen,[299] but it is not known

whether they were actually found there.

 

We have now completed the circuit of the ancient world, so far as finds

of Greek pottery are concerned, as with the exception of Marseilles,

already alluded to none can be traced in Spain or Central Europe.

 

-----

 

Footnote 48:

 

Curiously enough, the relative proportions of Greek and Oriental

civilisation in Asia Minor are almost exactly the same at the present

day as in the sixth century B.C. The Greeks are mostly to be found in

towns like Smyrna, and the adjoining islands, while the central part

of the country is almost entirely Turkish.

 

Footnote 49:

 

See for references to descriptions of tombs Hermann, _Lehrbuch d.

Antiq._ iv. (1882), p. 377.

 

Footnote 50:

 

Room K, Cases 69–72.

 

Footnote 51:

 

For specimens of typical Athenian tombs see Stackelberg, _Gräber der

Hellenen_, pl. 7. Fig. 1. gives a reproduction of a cist full of

vases from _ibid._ pl. 8. For an admirable description of the tombs

of the Dipylon, see _Ath. Mitth._ 1893, p. 74 ff.

 

Footnote 52:

 

_Compte-Rendu_, Atlas, 1859, pls. 5–6; Macpherson, _Antiqs. of

Kertch_, _passim_.

 

Footnote 53:

 

_Arch. Zeit._ 1850, p. 209, pl. 19.

 

Footnote 54:

 

_Journ. Hell. Stud._ vi. p. 237.

 

Footnote 55:

 

See for illustrations of tombs at Agia Paraskevi, near Nicosia, _Ath.

Mitth._ 1886, xi. p. 209 ff., and Suppl. pl. 2, from which Fig. 2. is

taken.

 

Footnote 56:

 

For specimens of Cypriote tombs of all periods the reader is referred

to Cesnola’s _Cyprus; Brit. Mus. Excavations in Cyprus_, 1893–96;

_Journ. Hell. Stud._ ix. p. 264 (Paphos) and xi. p.19 ff. (Poli).

 

Footnote 57:

 

_Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit._ 2nd Ser. ix. (1870), p. 162.

 

Footnote 58:

 

Gardner, _Cat. of Vases in Ashmol. Mus._ p. vii.

 

Footnote 59:

 

Cavallari in _Bull. della Comm. di Antich. in Sicil._ 1872, v. p. 10,

pl. 3.

 

Footnote 60:

 

Vol. ii. p. 57, vignette. Models of this tomb exist in cork, and

specimens may be seen in the Winchester College Museum and Eton

School Library.

 

Footnote 61:

 

_Scavi di Certosa_, 1875, text and plates.

 

Footnote 62:

 

For tombs at Ruvo see Jatta, _Cat. del Museo_, p. 53 ff.

 

Footnote 63:

 

Reference may also be made to Martha, _L'Art Étrusque_, p. 183 ff.

 

Footnote 64:

 

For an example in the B.M. see E 811 in the Fourth Vase Room, Cases

6–7. A plain jar of late date, from Halikarnassos, full of calcined

bones, is in the Terracotta Room of the B.M., Case 20.

 

Footnote 65:

 

See also Rathgen, _Konservirung von Altertumsfunden_, p. 67.

 

Footnote 66:

 

Westropp, _Epochs of Painted Vases_, p. 17.

 

Footnote 67:

 

Inghirami, _Vasi Fittili_, i. pl. 13; a false vase is also published

in Passeri, 300, and others in D'Hancarville, ii. 71, 84. The worst

specimen is perhaps that engraved by Millin, _Peintures_, ii, pls.

54–5 (reproduced in Reinach’s edition), which yet for a long time

found general acceptance. As a curiosity and a warning it deserves

perpetuation.

 

Footnote 68:

 

Eng. transl. p. 180 ff.

 

Footnote 69:

 

Curiously enough there was in M. Tyszkiewicz’s own collection a

white-ground cup with the subject of Phrixos (_Sale Cat._ pl. 35),

which is certainly open to suspicion·

 

Footnote 70:

 

_Gaz. Arch._ 1875, pl. 14.

 

Footnote 71:

 

Reinach, ii. 62 (in Louvre).

 

Footnote 72:

 

B.M. E 458.

 

Footnote 73:

 

Munich 404.

 

Footnote 74:

 

B.M. E 468.

 

Footnote 75:

 

B.M. F 331.

 

Footnote 76:

 

B.M. B 130.

 

Footnote 77:

 

See Reinach, _Répertoire_, ii. p. 277.

 

Footnote 78:

 

Millin-Reinach, i. pl. 49; now at Deepdene (?).

 

Footnote 79:

 

This has been especially the case of late years, as in the sale of M.

van Branteghem’s collection in 1892, when a small kylix signed by

Sotades cost as much as £400, and two others slightly less.

 

Footnote 80:

 

Some account of the prices paid for vases will be found in De Witte’s

_Description des Antiquités et Objets d’Art qui composent le cabinet

de feu M. le Chev. E. Durand_, Paris, 1836; and in the same author’s

_Description d’une collection de vases peints et bronzes antiques

provenant des fouilles de l’Étrurie_, Paris, 1837.

 

Footnote 81:

 

His Introduction to the Munich Vase Catalogue gives a good account of

finds of vases in Greece up to that time (1854); see p. xxi. ff.

 

Footnote 82:

 

Cf. Athenaeus, i. 28 C; xi. 484 F, and 480 C.

 

Footnote 83:

 

B 130. See _Cat._ vol. ii. for list of publications of this vase.

 

Footnote 84:

 

_Gräber der Hellenen._ He also gives some description of the tombs in

which they were found, and the nature of their contents (see above,

p. 33).

 

Footnote 85:

 

Good summaries of these discoveries will be found in the _Arch.

Anzeiger_, 1893, p. 13 ff., and _Berliner Philol. Wochenschr._ 1895,

p. 59.

 

Footnote 86:

 

_E.g._ Bibl. Nat. 865 _bis_; Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1885, pls. 8–9; 1888, pl. 12;

1898, pls. 2–5; 1901, pl. 1.

 

Footnote 87:

 

_Ath. Mitth._ 1893, p. 46 ff.: see also Bibl. Nat. 496 _bis_, 506.

 

Footnote 88:

 

Bibl. Nat. 417 is from the neighbouring Munychia.

 

Footnote 89:

 

_Ath. Mitth._ 1896, p. 385 ff.; and see below, p. 278.

 

Footnote 90:

 

Berlin 56 = _Jahrbuch_, 1887, pl. 5.

 

Footnote 91:

 

A fine R.F. and polychrome kylix = _Mon. dell’ Inst._ x. 37 _a_ =

Reinach, _Répertoire_, i. p. 207; also Athens 688 = Reinach, i. 164.

 

Footnote 92:

 

Berlin 2030; Athens 1167.

 

Footnote 93:

 

Berlin 2493, 2690; _Arch. Zeit._ 1880, pl. 16 = Reinach, i. p. 428.

 

Footnote 94:

 

Berlin 2373.

 

Footnote 95:

 

Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1895, pl. 11 (Mycenaean).

 

Footnote 96:

 

Berlin 1887–89.

 

Footnote 97:

 

Athens 1241; _Amer. Journ. of Arch._ 1903, p. 320.

 

Footnote 98:

 

See for the Vourva vases Athens 592 ff.; _Ath. Mitth._ 1890, p. 318

ff.; _Jahrbuch_, 1903, p. 124 ff.; and p. 299 below.

 

Footnote 99:

 

See Dodwell, _Tour_, ii. p. 180. Stephanus of Byzantium speaks of the

pottery of Megara (_s.v._) See also Athens 1858; Petersburg 1563 _a_.

 

Footnote 100:

 

viii. p. 381: cf. p. 134.

 

Footnote 101:

 

Ross, _Arch. Aufs._ ii. p. 344; Bibl. Nat. 101: see also Jahn’s

_Einleitung_, p. xxv.

 

Footnote 102:

 

_Ibid._ i. p. 57.

 

Footnote 103:

 

See p. 316.

 

Footnote 104:

 

_E.g._ Bibl. Nat. 94, 313, 1179.

 

Footnote 105:

 

See generally Furtwaengler and Loeschcke, _Myken. Vasen_, p. 50; for

notices of Mycenaean fragments by early travellers, Dodwell, _Tour_,

ii. p. 237, and Burgon in _Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit._ 2nd Ser. ii.

(1847), p. 258 ff., with plate opposite p. 296.

 

Footnote 106:

 

Fig. 88, p. 297.

 

Footnote 107:

 

_Ibid._ pls. 15, 21, p. 45; Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1895, pl. 11.

 

Footnote 108:

 

Furtwaengler and Loeschcke, p. 47.

 

Footnote 109:

 

_Arch. Zeit._ 1859, pl. 125 = Reinach, i. 389: see also _Bull. dell’

Inst._ 1832, p. 62; _Ann. dell’ Inst._ 1847, p. 250.