History of Ancient Pottery 22

History of Ancient Pottery 22

The next class to be considered is that of vases employed for mixing

wine and water for drinking, for which the generic name is that of

κρατήρ (from κεράννυμι, “I mix”). Before discussing this form, however,

allusion must be made to a vessel which is variously described as a

_hydria_ or a _krater_, and is therefore a link between the two

varieties; it was at any rate pre-eminently a water-jar, and was known

as a κρωσσός (connected with Fr. _cruche_ = Eng. “crock”). We have no

indications of its form except that it had two handles[565]; Pollux

(viii. 66) ranks it with the ὑδρία and κάλπις as a water-vessel.[566]

It was also used for holding ashes,[567] and Plutarch enumerates it

among the vessels in the bath of Darius.[568] Of the same character was

perhaps the ἀρδάνιον or ἀρδάλιον, described as a water-pot.[569]

Athenaeus also mentions a πρόαρον, or wooden vessel of the krater type,

as used in Attica.[570]

 

The =Krater= is distinguished from the amphora by its larger body,

wider mouth, and smaller handles. It was often placed on a stand,

called ὑποκρατήριον, or ὑποκρατηρίδιον,[571] which was either of

pottery or metal such as bronze. This either took the form of a hollow

cylindrical base, painted with subjects, or of an elaborately moulded

stem with egg-and-tongue and other patterns.[572] It is constantly

mentioned in Homer, but the kraters standing in the halls of the great

palaces, as in that of Odysseus, were made of gold or silver. It is on

the average the largest of all Greek vases (except the pithos), some of

the later Apulian specimens (of which F 278 in the B.M. is one)

reaching a height of about four feet; the ordinary examples have a

capacity of three or four gallons. The names Argolic, Lesbian,

Laconian, Corinthian, and Thericleian are applied to it by various

ancient authors.[573]

 

In the different fabrics of Greek pottery it takes several distinct

forms, to which convenient descriptive names have been given by Italian

dealers, and some attempt has been made to identify names given by

classical authors as forms of the krater, but without any success. The

Italian names, however, which will be mentioned in due course, are

somewhat cumbersome for English use.

 

Among Mycenaean vases there is a variety almost confined to Cyprus, to

which the name of krater may fairly be given.[574] Its chief

characteristics are a wide spheroidal body, hardly contracted at the

neck (which in some varieties is non-existent), flat vertical

side-handles, and a high stem. We hardly meet with this form again

until the end of the Corinthian style, when it suddenly leaps into

popularity.[575] The form in which it appears recalls, though it can

hardly be imitated from, the Mycenaean krater, but the stem disappears,

and the body is in section about two-thirds of a circle.[576] It is

clearly a local invention, and on the evidence of finds at Syracuse,

its first appearance may be traced to the first half of the seventh

century. Its distinguishing feature, however, is in the handles, each

of which is composed of two short vertical bars, sometimes meeting in

an arch, supporting a flat square piece formed by a projection from the

flat broad rim, which is generally decorated. From the columnar

appearance of these handles, the type has received the name of _vaso a

colonnette_, which at all events is a more accurate description than

the name κελέβη which, first proposed by Gerhard, has been generally

employed by archaeologists, on what grounds it is not clear. This word,

as described by Athenaeus, is clearly intended to imply a

_drinking-cup_ of some kind[577]; he quotes from Anakreon (_frag._ 63,

Bergk), who speaks of drinking its contents at one draught (ἄμυστιν).

On the other hand he quotes the authority of Pamphilos for identifying

it with the θερμοπότις, or “water-heater,” a kind of kettle. The

probability is that it was a general and loosely-employed word.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 36. KRATER WITH COLUMN-HANDLES.]

 

The column-handled krater is also found in the Naukratis wares of the

sixth century, as well as in the imitations of Corinthian fabrics in

which the Campana collection of the Louvre is so rich; the clay, style,

and inscriptions of the latter clearly show their Corinthian origin,

apart from the form. This krater is often decorated with friezes of

figures (as in the famous Amphiaraos krater, p. 319). In the few

existing Attic examples with black figures the subjects are in framed

panels. This form, after dying out before the end of the sixth century,

is revived towards the middle of the fifth in the later R.F. fabrics,

but in a much altered form, which gives greater prominence to the

columnar character of the handles. The neck is higher and narrower, and

the handles consequently lengthened, the square tops being much

diminished, and the body also takes a narrower and straighter form. In

the fabrics of Southern Italy this development is even more strongly

marked, and the elongated neck is adorned with an ivy-wreath in a

panel; this type enjoyed some popularity both in Apulia and Lucania.

The system of panel-decoration is employed throughout in all these

cases.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 37. VOLUTE-HANDLED KRATER.]

 

The only other form of krater found in the B.F. period—and that but

rarely—is that known as _volute-handled_ (_a rotelle_), from the large

handles reaching above the lip and curved round in a scroll (Fig. 37).

It has an egg-shaped body and large neck. The best and earliest example

is the François vase (p. 370), from which it may be clearly seen that

the form is derived from the columnar-handled krater. The British

Museum also possesses a fine example signed by Nikosthenes, with a

design in a frieze on the neck (B 364). The same shape and method of

decoration appear in some fine examples of the severe R.F. style (cf.

B.M. E 468, 469). During the R.F. period, two entirely new forms of

krater suddenly appear, known respectively as the _vaso a calice_ and

the _vaso a campana_, or “calyx-krater” and “bell-krater”; the former

is first used by Euphronios.[578] These names give a very accurate

description of the forms, the one being like the opening calyx of a

flower, the other like an inverted bell (Figs. 38, 39). In each the lip

projects above the body, the neck having entirely disappeared, while

the handles of the calyx-krater drop to the lower part of the vase, and

those of the bell-krater are attached horizontally to the sides. Both

types of handle are evidently adapted to carrying full vessels, like

the side-handles of the hydria. The name of ὀξύβαφον was given by

Gerhard[579] to the bell-krater, again without any real authority, and

probably owing to an error, from finding the name scratched underneath

one example. Comparison, however, with similar inscriptions (see

Chapter XVII.) shows clearly that the ὀξύβαφον was a small measure,

less even than a κύαθος, or ladleful. Athenaeus (xi. 494 B) is very

explicit on this point. He derives the name from ὀξός, vinegar, which

liquid the vessel was used to contain, and describes it as εἴδος

κύλικος μικρᾶς. It was therefore a small cup of some kind (see p. 194).

 

[Illustration] [Illustration]

FIG. 38. CALYX-KRATER FIG. 39. BELL-KRATER

 

In Southern Italy the krater holds the same position as the amphora of

the B.F. period.[580] The calyx- and bell-kraters are the two forms

chiefly affected in the transition period when Athenian artists were

working in Italy, or Italian artists directly under the influence of

Athenian (see p. 465), but they are also found among the purely local

fabrics, especially those of Cumae and Paestum (_ibid._). The

calyx-krater seems to have been reserved for the better and more

carefully-executed specimens,[581] and the Italian bell-kraters often

have a top-heavy effect from the greater height of their stems.

 

In Apulia (and occasionally also in Lucania—the Campanian potters did

not affect large vases) the volute-handled krater once more appears, in

great magnificence. Not only is the total size and bulk increased, but

the neck is lengthened and the handles are often treated with great

elaboration of detail, ending below in swans’ necks spreading over the

vase. In Apulia the volutes are generally replaced by medallions

(whence the Italian name _vaso con maniche a mascheroni_) decorated

with Gorgons’ heads or figures, in relief, painted white, yellow, and

red. These vases are sometimes, but incorrectly, called amphorae; they

range from two to three or four feet in height. They are generally

painted from head to foot with subjects, often of a sepulchral nature,

and were no doubt largely made for use at funeral ceremonies. They are

more fully described in Chapter XI.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 40. LUCANIAN KRATER.]

 

The last variety of krater (Fig. 40) is formed by a peculiar type of

vase, apparently devised by the Iapygian aborigines of Southern

Italy,[582] which has a wide mouth and sloping shoulder, and sometimes

a high neck. Its peculiarity is that it has four handles, two upright

and two horizontal, to the sides of which large discs are attached,

whence its Italian name is _vaso con maniche a rotelle_, from the wheel

or rosette patterns painted on the discs. This feature caused Panofka

to give it the name of νεστορίς, with reference to the famous

four-handled cup of Nestor (_Il._ xi. 632). It need hardly be pointed

out that there can be little in common between this form and the

drinking-cup used by the Homeric hero, in spite of the fact that the

latter was too heavy for an ordinary man to lift. We need not suppose

that Nestor’s cup (concerning which see below, p. 181) was larger than

an ordinary “loving-cup,” and the poet was probably guilty of a

pardonable exaggeration. As a painted vase, this four-handled krater is

peculiar to Lucania, and it is interesting to note that it sometimes

appears depicted on Lucanian vases as used in daily life.[583]

 

[Illustration: FIG. 41. PSYKTER.]

 

Closely related to the krater is the ψυκτήρ or ψυγεύς, a wine-cooler

(from ψύχω, “cool”), which was used for cooling wine by means of snow

or cold water.[584] The extant specimens are but few in number and vary

in form. The British Museum possesses a very remarkable specimen in the

form of a B.F. panel amphora (B 148),[585] with double walls and

bottom, and a large spout on one side, through which the snow or cold

water was introduced into the outer space; it was afterwards withdrawn

through an aperture in the bottom.[586] Similar vases in the

“Chalcidian” style are also known. After the beginning of the R.F.

period a new type was introduced in the shape of a vessel with a short

neck, the body of which bulges out towards its base, and is supported

on a high stem; it generally has two small eared handles (Fig. 41).

Several R.F. examples are known, of which two are in the British

Museum,[587] and three or four in the Louvre; the British Museum also

possesses a late B.F. specimen (B 299). The designs are painted in a

frieze round the vase.

 

The ἀκρατοφόρος, or vessel for holding unmixed wine, seems to have been

another name for the ψυκτήρ; Pollux (vi. 90) says the difference was

that it was supported on small knobs (_lit._ small knucklebones)

instead of a stem.

 

[Illustration: FIG. 42. DEINOS OR LEBES.]

 

Another name identified in antiquity with the ψυκτήρ is that of the

δῖνος (sometimes spelled δεῖνος); but the identity was more probably

one of usage than of form.[588] As to the latter, there is considerable

discrepancy in the accounts of the grammarians[589]; one calls it a

deep cup tapering down to a point; another, probably more correctly,

since it was certainly not a drinking-vessel, a clay vessel for wine

without a base, but rounded underneath. In virtue of this description

the name has usually been applied to a class of vase, commoner in the

earlier periods than the later, and more often found on Greek sites

than on Italian, which has a rounded base without foot, and no handles

(Fig. 42). These vases are found as early as the seventh century in

Greece, and were very common at Naukratis, appearing also in most of

the B.F. fabrics. That they were used to contain the ashes of the dead

is shown by the B.M. example already referred to (p. 146), which

belongs to the end of the R.F. period.[590] In Southern Italy this form

of vase is generally placed on a separate high moulded stem, and has a

cover with an ornamental knob. A variety with hemispherical cover

nearly equal in size to the vase itself has been identified with the

ἡμίτομος (“cut in half”), a form mentioned by Athenaeus.[591]

 

This type of vase has more usually been described by the name of λέβης,

denoting a kettle or caldron; but though the form of the λέβης was

practically the same (as we may gather from the fact of its always

being placed on a tripod), the purpose for which it was used (_i.e._

for boiling water) and the fact that it was always of metal, suggest

that it is not such an appropriate name as δῖνος for this form of

painted vase. The λέβης is constantly mentioned in Homer, both as a

cooking-vessel and as a washing-basin.[592] Herodotos[593] says that

the Scythians used a λέβης for cooking flesh, which resembled the

Lesbian krater, but was much larger. It was also the vessel in which

the ram, and subsequently Pelias, were boiled by Medeia; and may be

seen depicted in several B.F. representations of that story.[594] A

golden lebes was placed at each angle of the temple of Zeus at

Olympia.[595] It is also the name of the vessel used by the Boeotians

in their ingenious contrivance at the siege of Delion.[596] To its use

as a cinerary urn in the tragic poets we have already alluded.

 

The ordinary name for a cooking-vessel of earthenware in Greece was

χύτρα, answering to our “pot”: it was used both for water and for

solids, as well as for other domestic purposes. Children were exposed

in χύτραι[597]; and a boy’s game called χυτρίνδα is described by

Pollux[598]; it was apparently played in two ways, either by a boy

representing a χύτρα, who was pulled about by the other players until

he caught one, or by a boy carrying a pot, with some obscure reference

to the story of Midas. There were several proverbial __EXPRESSION__s

connected with the χύτρα, such as ποικίλλειν χύτρας, “to paint pots,”

expressive of useless labour, owing to the roughness of the ware; and

together with the χοῦς, a vessel only known as a measure (12 kotylae or

5¾ pints), it played a part in the festival of the Anthesteria, one day

of which was known as Χύτραι καὶ Χόες, or “Pot-and-Pan Day.”[599] The

word χυτρόπους, used by Hesiod[600] and Aristophanes,[601] seems merely

to denote a cooking-pot with feet. The πύραυνοι or κλίβανοι large clay

vessels used either as brasiers or for baking purposes, have been

already described in Chapter III.

 

A few other general words for cooking-vessels and domestic utensils may

also be mentioned here. The θερμαντήρ mentioned by Pollux[602] is

presumably identical with the θερμοπότις and ἀναφαία of Athenaeus (475

D, 783 F), the former, as its name implies, being a vessel in which hot

drinks were prepared. It seems to have been exclusively made of metal,

and may, indeed, only be another name for the λέβης. It has, as we have

seen, been identified with the κελέβη. Pollux gives a list of vessels

used for warming water.[603]

 

The ἡθμός, or strainer,[604] answers to the modern colander, and is

represented by a flat round vessel with long handle, of which some late

fictile examples exist.[605] It is mentioned among the vessels in the

Sigeian inscription,[606] but is there spelled ἡθμός. Most of the

existing specimens are of bronze. The ὁλκεῖον mentioned by

Athenaeus[607] appears to have been a bowl used for washing cups. The

σκάφη (“boat”) is a general term used in the classics for vessels of

varied import: basins, troughs, washing-tubs, bowls, etc.[608] It is

the name used in inscriptions relating to the Panathenaic festival to

describe the flat dishes or trays borne by the maidens who were called

Skaphephori in the procession, as represented on the Parthenon

frieze.[609] The diminutive form σκάφιον or σκαφεῖον also occurs, and

is identified with καλπίον. The ὅλμος, generally used to denote a

mortar,[610] also signified a bowl,[611] and had the special

signification of the hollow bowl in which the priestess of Apollo sat

when delivering oracles from the Delphic tripod. It may here be noted

that the word τρίπους appears to be used in ancient writers[612] not

only for the stand which supported the λέβης and other vessels, but for

a vessel itself when thus supported on three feet. Most of the existing

tripods are made of bronze,[613] but one or two fictile examples are

known, including a very remarkable one in Berlin,[614] found at

Tanagra, and covered with archaic paintings in the B.F. method.

 

On bathing and washing vessels our best authority is Pollux (x. 63); it

is not, however, likely that they were often of earthenware. The

ποδανιπτήρ at all events was of metal; it is often seen on R.F. vases

with the subject of Theseus killing Procrustes.[615] Large vessels,

resembling modern baths, were known by the names of πύελος: and

ἀσαμινθος[616]; the λουτήριον, or laver, on a high stem, is frequently

represented on South Italian vases,[617] but is a purely decorative

adjunct. It is there painted white to indicate marble.

 

The λεκάνη[618] should also perhaps be included here, as according to

the literary accounts it was a basin used for washing feet or clothes,

or for vomiting. It also served the purpose of a mortar, and was used

in the game of kottabos. A method of divination sometimes practised was

known as λεκανομαντεία and consisted in placing waxen images in a

lekane full of water, which became as it were animated and sank, thus

signifying the destruction of an enemy. In Pseudo-Callisthenes we read

how Nectanebos, the supposed father of Alexander, made use of this

procedure.[619]

 

[Illustration: FIG. 43. OINOCHOË (7TH CENTURY).]

 

The next series with which we have to deal is that of vases used for

pouring out wine and serving it at the table. They fall into two

classes: the wine-jug for pouring, and the ladle for filling it out of

the mixing-bowl. We begin with the series of wine-jugs, as being the

more important.