History of Ancient Pottery 21

History of Ancient Pottery 21

Perhaps of all the ancient vases the best known is the =Amphora=

(ἀμφορεύς or ἀμφιφορεύς), which was used for a variety of domestic and

commercial purposes. So numerous are the vases of this form, found all

over the Greek world, that they merit a lengthy description. They were

principally used for wine, but also for corn, honey, oil, and other

substances,[522] and to the use of the word as a measure of capacity we

have already alluded. It should be borne in mind that the conventional

use of the word _amphora_ in speaking of the painted Greek vases

implies a quite different form from the plain wine-amphorae, which were

neither painted nor varnished; the type of vase is the same, but the

painted examples are smaller and stouter, with a proper foot. For the

present we confine our description to the unadorned amphora of commerce.

 

Besides the two handles from which the word derives its name,[523] the

wine-amphora (Fig. 22.) is distinguished by its long egg-shaped body,

narrow cylindrical neck, and pointed base; this form is often known as

_diota_ (the Latin equivalent). The base is sometimes supplied with a

ring to stand on, but is more usually pointed, in order to be easily

fixed in the earth in cellars. The mouth was sealed by means of a

conical cover terminating in a boss.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 22. GREEK WINE-JARS (BRITISH MUSEUM).]

 

Remains of these amphorae have been discovered not only in Greece

itself, but also wherever the Greek commerce and settlements extended,

as in Alexandria, Kertch (Panticapaeum), Corfu, Rhodes, Sicily, and

Asia Minor. They appear to have been used at a very early period, plain

specimens of red ware being found not only in the early Greek tombs,

like that of Menekrates in Corfu (p. 54), but even in tombs of the

Bronze Age period, as in Cyprus. The typical long shape, however, did

not come into fashion until about 300 B.C., when the island of Rhodes

was a great trading centre, carrying on an active commerce all over the

Mediterranean. Amphorae of this form are represented on the coins of

Chios and Thasos with reference to their trade in wine, and on the

Athenian silver tetradrachms which belong to the period subsequent to

about 220 B.C.; they are shown on the reverse, lying horizontally, with

an owl above. In this case the reference may be either to the large

Attic trade in oil or to the use of the amphora for voting at the

election of magistrates (see p. 167).

 

The most interesting feature of the wine-amphorae is the device or

impression stamped on the handles either in a circular medallion or an

oblong depression. This was done by means of a stone or bronze stamp,

while the clay was still moist. They are found in all parts of the

ancient world, but the greater number can be traced to a few places of

origin, of which the most important are: Rhodes, Knidos, Thasos, Paros,

and Olbia in Southern Russia. As regards the stamps, the usage differs

at each centre; but apart from them the handles can be distinguished by

their shapes and material, as will be seen in the subsequent

description.

 

The Rhodian amphorae, of which large numbers have been found at

Alexandria as well as in the island itself, were of a very pure and

tenacious clay, with a fracture as sharp as that of delf. The colour is

pale, deepening to a salmon hue. The numerous separate handles which

have also been found have all belonged to the same form of amphora,

with long square-shouldered handles, as on the Athenian and Chian

coins. An entire vase, but without a stamp,[524] which was brought from

Rhodes, was 40 in. in height, and the height of the handles alone was

10 in., the upper part attached to the top of the mouth being 3 in.

long. This is a typical instance for the shape. The seal when found is

impressed on the upper part of the handle, the size of the label being

generally about 1½ in. or 1¾ in. long, by ⅝ in. wide, except when they

are oval or circular. At Alexandria eight distinct varieties of handles

were found, broken from amphorae of different countries, but only one

inscribed; the base also assumed various forms.

 

In the Rhodian amphorae two stamps are in use, a principal and an

accessory one (Fig. 23._a_).[525] The former has a device of the head

of Helios, the Sun-God, or the emblematic rose, both of which types

occur on the coins; it is accompanied by an inscription, in the form

ἐπὶ τοῦ δεῖνος, sometimes explicitly described as ἱερέως, _i.e._ in the

year of the eponymous priest of the Sun. This is followed by the name

of a Rhodian month. The accessory stamp contains the name of a person,

usually in the genitive. The months belong to the Doric calendar, and

are as follows: Thesmophorios, Theudaisios, Pedageitnyos, Diosthyos,

Badromios, Sminthios, Artamitios, Agrianios, Hyakinthios, Panamos,

Dalios, Karneios, and the second Panamos, an intercalary month.[526]

The object of the stamps is involved in obscurity, but they were

probably intended to certify that the amphora (which was also a

measure) held the proper quantity. It is clear that they could not have

been intended to attest the age of the wine, as the vessel might be

used for any sort, and the stamps bear the name of every month in the

year.

 

[Illustration:

 

From _Dumont_.

FIG. 23. AMPHORA-STAMPS FROM RHODES.

]

 

Other handles of Rhodian amphorae, stamped with an oblong cartouche or

label, may be divided into two classes: (1) Those inscribed with the

name of a magistrate and an emblem. The latter resembled the “adjuncts”

found on the coins of some Greek cities, but it is uncertain whether

they were selected on any fixed principle, or merely adopted from

caprice. They may perhaps allude to the deity whom the magistrate

particularly honoured as the patron god of his tribe or village. The

same symbol was, however, often used by many individuals, and on the

whole the number known is not large. (2) Those bearing the name of a

magistrate, accompanied by that of a month of the Doric calendar, but

without any emblem (Fig. 23._b_).

 

Many handles of amphorae from Knidos have been found on different

sites. Their clay is coarser than the Rhodian, its colour darker and

duller, and the amphorae differ also somewhat in form, nor are they of

so early a date, being mostly as late as the Roman Empire. The stamps

on the Cnidian amphorae, like those of Rhodes, are inscribed with the

name of the eponymous magistrate, and also with that of the wine-grower

or exporter of the produce, which is always marked as Cnidian. The

stamps show a great variety in the matter of emblems. Remains of

Cnidian amphorae have been found in Sicily, at Athens, Alexandria, and

Olbia. The palaeography of the inscriptions covers a period of two

centuries, from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius, or even later.

 

Numerous examples have been found of handles of amphorae, in which the

celebrated wine of Thasos was exported to places such as Thasos and

Olbia. The stamps are nearly square, with a device in the middle, the

inscription [ΘΑΣΙΩΝ], and the name of an official. The names are

usually in the nominative, but in one instance at least the genitive is

used. The symbols include an amphora, kneeling archer, cornucopia,

dolphin, etc. (Fig. 24).[527] The known stamps of Paros are few in

number; they are simply inscribed [ΠΑΡΙΩΝ], which in one instance is

written retrograde.[528]

 

Handles inscribed with the name of an aedile (ἀστυνόμος) and of another

person, probably a magistrate, have been found on various sites in the

Crimea and Southern Russia, principally at Olbia. At Panticapaeum

(Kertch) two amphorae were found with stamps across the neck, thus:

 

EUARCHO EPI KALLIA

ARISTON EOPAMONOS

 

the upper name being that of the magistrate.[529] These vases appear to

have been made on the spot.

 

[Illustration:

 

From _Dumont_.

FIG. 24. AMPHORA-STAMPS FROM THASOS.

]

 

Stoddart also mentions amphora-handles as having come from

Corinth,[530] with names which can be traced to the time of the Roman

dominion. Falkner found at Pompeii an amphora with a Greek inscription

of three lines painted in red and black, with the name of Menodotos and

the letters KOR. OPT., which _may_ mean “the best Corcyraean

brand.”[531] A bibliography of the subject is appended below.[532]

 

Among painted vases the amphora holds a high place, especially in the

black-figure period, during which it was most prominent. It is

distinguished from the plain type, as already pointed out, by the

proportions of the body, as well as by the graceful curve of the

handles and the flat circular foot. The variations in its form at

different places and periods are so marked that they have led to the

adoption of qualifying adjectives for each kind. Although these names

cannot now be accepted in a strict sense, they are sometimes useful as

conventional __EXPRESSION__s. We proceed to describe these in detail.

 

(1) The origin of the Greek amphora is clearly to be sought in the

pithos of primitive times, as may be seen in the vases of the Melian

and Proto-Attic classes, and in the early vases with reliefs from

Boeotia, Crete, Thera, and elsewhere. It is not found in the Mycenaean

style, the large vases of which come under the heading of the krater

(see below); and its appearance in Greece dates from the developed

stage of the Geometrical period. The earliest specimens among the

painted vases are virtually small pithoi, characterised by a long

cylindrical neck, and large elaborate handles obviously imitating metal

(see p. 495). Of this type are several of the Boeotian Geometrical and

Proto-Attic vases discussed in Chapter VII.,[533] and the Boeotian

vases with reliefs.[534] Among the Proto-Attic vases found at Vourva a

development occurs, in which the neck is greatly elongated, and the

body becomes exceedingly slim, while the handles are simplified into

plain flat bands united to the neck by bars of clay (see Fig. 89, p.

299). This form is found still further developed in the

prothesis-amphorae of the B.F. period[535]; but these are comparatively

rare, and the more normal evolution of the amphora with cylindrical

neck is to be traced in the varieties (2) and (6) described below.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 25. “TYRRHENIAN” AMPHORA.]

 

(2) The early amphorae preceding the ordinary B.F. Athenian types were

divided by Gerhard into two classes, “Egyptian” and “Tyrrhenian.”[536]

He describes the former as a vase with tolerably pronounced curve of

body, entirely covered with horizontal bands of figures; the latter as

of similar form, but with decoration confined to a panel on either

side. As regards shape, therefore, the two are actually one, and may be

regarded as such for our present purpose; but it is curious to note

that the particular class called “Egyptian” by Gerhard has since his

time been generally known as “Tyrrhenian,” while his “Tyrrhenian” class

has now received, from the peculiar mannerisms of the paintings, the

name of “affected” vases.[537] At all events the word is convenient to

adhere to for the description of this particular shape (Fig. 25), with

its long, egg-shaped body, the vertical section of which is almost an

ellipse, a shape common to all early B.F. fabrics—Athenian, Rhodian,

Ionic, and Corinthian—but best illustrated by the “Corintho-Attic”

class described by Thiersch.[538] It is seldom found in purely Attic

examples, and disappears after the middle of the sixth century.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 26. PANATHENAIC AMPHORA.]

 

(3) Gerhard’s next class is that of the Panathenaic amphorae, which

have a long body shaped something like a top, and tapering sharply

downwards; the mouth, handles, and neck are small, as is also the foot

(Fig. 26). It is so called as being the characteristic form of the

earlier (sixth-century) Panathenaic prize-vases, but is also

occasionally found in the ordinary fabrics. This type, together with

the two following examples, not mentioned explicitly by Gerhard or the

other early writers, form the class of “black-bodied” amphorae, as they

may conveniently be termed, in order to distinguish those with

panel-decoration from those in which the body is entirely covered with

red glaze (see below).

 

(4) The second variety of “black-bodied” amphora (Fig. 27.) is closely

akin to the Panathenaic, but the body is better proportioned. It is

characterised by the wide mouth in the form of a thick ring, the

cylindrical handles, and the concave curve of the shoulder. From the

style of the paintings it is probable that this variety must be placed

early in the black-figure period.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 27. PANEL-AMPHORA.]

 

(5) This type, on the other hand, is later in the period, being

developed out of the last, from which it is marked off only by the form

of the handles, which are broad and flanged, and often decorated with

patterns. These vases are mostly of large size, and are transitional,

some R.F. varieties being known. The paintings on them are in the style

of Exekias, Andokides, and Euthymides (see for an example Plates XXXI.,

XXXII.).

 

(6) The shape of the “red-bodied” amphora (Fig. 28) is peculiar to the

black-figure period.[539] Its characteristic features are the straight,

cylindrical neck, with its chain of lotos-and-honeysuckle, the width of

the shoulder, and the ribbed handles, formed from moulds in two or

three parallel pieces. Artistically it is far superior to the

black-bodied, and includes some of the finest specimens of B.F.

painting (as in the vases of Exekias), while the decorative element

reaches the perfection of beauty and symmetry.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 28. RED-BODIED AMPHORA.]

 

(7) The red-bodied amphora seems to have been the prototype of what is

the most characteristic form of the red-figure period—the so-called

“Nolan” amphora (Fig. 29).[540] These have been largely, but not

exclusively, found at Nola, whither they seem to have been imported in

large numbers from Greece. The whole vase is covered with black, and

the decoration confined to one or two figures each side, while the

elegant and beautiful outline, the lustre of the varnish, and the

restraint of the designs combine to render these perhaps the most

beautiful products of Athenian ceramic art. The handles are sometimes

four-sided, more often ribbed, and sometimes formed of two twisted

strands, produced by rolling up the soft paste; the general outline is

that of the last class, but the proportions are far more slender and

graceful.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 29. “NOLAN” AMPHORA.]

 

(8) The Apulian amphora (Fig. 30) illustrates the form which, though

generally adopted in Apulia, may have had its origin at Athens, as it

is adopted for the fourth-century Panathenaic amphorae.[541] It is

distinguished by its great size and egg-shaped body; the mouth is thick

and high, spreading out like an inverted cone, and the neck is not

cylindrical, but merges into the shoulder. A variety of the Apulian

amphora, hardly common enough to form a separate class, was formerly

known as the “candelabrum-amphora,” from its resemblance to an

incense-burner (an object wrongly interpreted formerly as a

_candelabrum_, or lamp-stand). Its peculiarities are the cylindrical

body, tall neck, and elaborate handles in the form of double

scrolls.[542]

 

[Illustration: FIG. 30. APULIAN AMPHORA.]

 

(9) The Campanian amphora is derived directly from the “Nolan,” and is

in fact a local adaptation, but it was chiefly manufactured at

Cumae.[543] It generally has twisted handles, and is painted in

polychrome; the proportions are somewhat more elongated than those of

the “Nolan” class.

 

(10) A rare variety of the amphora is sometimes found in the red-figure

period, with large spheroidal body and pointed base, intended to be

placed in a separate stand. The conventional name of _diota_ is

sometimes given to this form, from its imitation of the pointed base of

the wine-amphora.[544]

 

(11) The last variety of the amphora which calls for consideration is

the wide-bellied type, usually called (on very slight authority) a

_pelike_, πελίkη (Fig. 31).[545] The name was invented by Gerhard, and

has been generally adopted since, but is only to be regarded as a

conventional term. This form, which swells out towards the base, and

has no stem or neck, is very rarely found before the fifth

century,[546] but is common in the R.F. period, and in the Apulian

style, in which its proportions are usually more slender.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 31. SO-CALLED “PELIKE.”]

 

The amphora when complete usually had a cover of clay, either coated

with a plain black varnish or decorated with bands and patterns; it was

lifted by means of a central knob. An amphora in the Berlin Museum

(_Cat._ 1860) has a double cover, the inner one being of alabaster.

 

Of the other names which seem to denote vases adapted for containing

and storing wine or other commodities, the most important is the

=Stamnos= (στάμνος), used for holding wine and oil. It is mentioned by

Pollux[547] in his list of wine-jars, and he quotes a line from

Aristophanes about “a stamnos of Chian wine arriving.” The diminutives

σταμνίον and σταμνάριον are also found, and Aristophanes speaks of a

“small Thasian stamnos of wine.”[548] The amphora is defined in the

_Etymologicum Magnum_ as “a two-eared σταμνίον.” It has been generally

identified with a form well known in the R.F. period, but only found in

that style: a spherical jar with short thick neck and small

side-handles, of which some very beautiful specimens exist (Fig. 32).

The word is still in use in modern Greek.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 32. STAMNOS.]

 

The βῖκος is described by Hesychios as a στάμνος with ears, and by

Eustathius as a vessel holding wine[549]; it was also used for figs and

salted food.[550] It is probably only another name for the

στάμνοςστάμνος, but it seems to be inaccurately described by

Athenaeus[551] as “a saucer-shaped drinking-cup” (φιαλῶδες ποτήριον).

It was apparently identical with the ὕρχη,[552] a word used by

Aristophanes,[553] but more commonly by Roman writers in its Latin form

_orca_.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 33. SO-CALLED “LEKANE.”]

 

The names of Apulian stamnos or λεκάνη have at different times been

given to a late form of painted vase found in Southern Italy, with high

or low stem, upright handles, and cover, which latter often takes an

elaborate form, being surmounted by one or more small vases, also with

handles (Fig. 33.). The word λεκάνη,[554] however, seems to indicate a

large bowl rather than a covered jar, and no satisfactory name has as

yet been found. A similar but flatter form of vase, like a covered bowl

or dish, has been named λεκάνη, λεπαστή, or covered pyxis, but no name

is satisfactory.

 

The λαγυνος or λαγυνίς seems to have been a narrow-necked jar of

considerable size. Athenaeus[555] says the word represented a Greek

measure, equivalent to twelve Attic κοτύλαι, or six pints, and that it

was in use at Patrae. The word is used by Plutarch for the jar in which

the stork offered entertainment to the fox[556]; it frequently appears

in the Latin form _lagena_ (see Chapter XXI.). A wicker-covered λαγυνος

was known as a πυτίνη.[557]

 

Another form of the same class is the κάδοs, with its diminutive

καδίσκος, which is represented by the Latin _situla_, or bucket, the

latter word being the one usually employed by archaeologists. It is a

form easily to be recognised in Greek art, but is more usually found in

metal-work, _e.g._ in Etruscan and Italian bronzes, than in

pottery.[558] The painted situlae, of which a few late examples from

Italian tombs exist, are obviously direct imitations of the metal

buckets, and in some cases actually have movable bronze handles

attached. The situla appears to have been used not only for keeping

wine in the cellar, but for serving it up at banquets[559]; the word is

also used by Aristophanes for a voting-urn and a well-bucket.[560] In

Latin the uses were probably distinguished, _cadus_ denoting a

wine-jar, _situla_ a water-bucket. Athenaeus obviously goes astray in

regarding it as a drinking-cup.

 

A vase which was used almost exclusively for carrying water was the

=Hydria=, as is implied by its name (ὑδρία, from ὕδωρ). Its most

essential characteristic is the possession of three handles, a large

one at the back for carrying when empty, and two small horizontal

handles at the sides for carrying when full. The shape of the body

varies at different periods; in the B.F. period the shoulder is flat

and marked off by a sharp angle from the body (Fig. 34); but about the

beginning of the fifth century this is replaced by a form with more

rounded outline and smaller handle at the back, generally known for the

sake of distinction as a _kalpis_ (Fig. 35). In the earlier variety (of

which some R.F. examples are known) there are always two subjects, one

forming a frieze on the shoulder, the other treated more in the manner

of a metope on the body; they are