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.

Before dealing with Greek vases in further detail, it may be as well to say something of the circumstances under which, and the localities in which, they have been discovered. And further, we must clearly define the limits of our subject, both historically and geographically.

(1) =Historical.=—It may seem somewhat paradoxical to doubt whether the primitive pottery found on Greek soil ought, strictly speaking, to be called Greek. In a succeeding chapter we shall have occasion to touch upon the question of the ethnological origin of this pottery, which, in the opinion of some authorities, is not the product of Greeks as we understand the term, but of some Oriental nation, such as the Phoenicians. It is, however, enough for our present purpose that it has been found on Greek soil, and that it forms a stage which we cannot omit from a study of the development of Greek pottery, seeing that its influence can be plainly traced on later fabrics.

Turning to the other limit of the subject, we find that nearly all the latest vases, belonging to the period of the Decadence, were manufactured in Southern Italy or Etruria. But nearly all bear so unmistakably the stamp of Greek influence, however degenerate and obscured, that we can only regard them as made by Greek artists settled in the colonies of Magna Graecia, or at any rate by native workers in direct imitation of the Greeks.

We may roughly define our historical limits as from 2500 B.C., the approximate age of the early pottery of Crete, Cyprus, and Hissarlik, down to 200 B.C., when the manufacture of painted vases came to an end under the growing dominion of Rome. It was formerly supposed that the senatorial edict of 186 B.C., forbidding the performance of Bacchanalian ceremonies in Italy, was the means of putting an end to this industry, but this is hardly borne out by facts; it rather died a natural death owing to the growing popularity of relief-work both in terracotta and in metal (see Chapters XI. and XXII.).

(2) =Geographical.=—Having defined our historical limits, it remains to consider the extent of Greek civilisation during that period, as attested by archaeological or other evidence. Besides the mainland of Greece and the islands of the Aegean Sea, the whole of Asia Minor may be regarded as in a measure Greek, although practically speaking only a strip of territory along the western coast became really Hellenised, and we shall not be concerned with pottery-finds in any other part of the country.[48] To the north-east, Greek colonisation penetrated as far as Kertch and other places in the Crimea, known to the ancients as Panticapaeum and the Bosphoros respectively. In the Eastern Mediterranean the island of Cyprus will demand a large share of our attention. Egypt, again, has yielded large numbers of vases, mostly from the two Greek settlements of Naukratis and Daphnae; and farther to the west along the north coast of Africa was the Greek colony of Kyrene, also a fruitful site for excavators.

The rest of the ground is covered by the island of Sicily and the peninsular portion of Italy from Bologna southwards. Greek vases have occasionally turned up in Spain, Gaul (_i.e._ France and North Italy), as at Marseilles (Massilia), where primitive Greek pottery has been found, and also in Sardinia; but the Western Mediterranean sites are chiefly confined to Southern Italy and Etruria. In fact, till recent years these regions were almost our only source of information on Greek pottery, as has already been pointed out.

Generally speaking, it may be said that all Greek vases have been found in tombs, but the circumstances under which they have been found differ according to locality. We propose in the succeeding section to say something of the nature of the ancient tombs, and the differences between those of Greece, Cyprus, Italy, and other sites.

Of finds on the sites of temples and sanctuaries it is not necessary to say much here; the explanation of such discoveries will receive some attention in Chapter IV., and the individual sites will also be noted in the next section of this chapter. It is a rare occurrence to find complete vases under these circumstances, as they generally owe their preservation to the fact that they have been broken in pieces and cast away as rubbish into holes and pits. The most notable instance is the remarkable series of fragments discovered on the Acropolis at Athens.

Greek tombs are not usually very remarkable in character,[49] being for the most part small and designed for single corpses; this may possibly account for the comparatively small size of the vases discovered on most Hellenic sites. In the earlier tombs at Athens and Corinth the pottery was found at a very great depth below the soil. The six shaft-graves in the circle at Mycenae are of great size, and contained large quantities of painted pottery; an exact reproduction of the sixth, found by M. Stamatakis in 1878, with its contents, is in the National Museum at Athens. Here also are reproductions of two typical fifth-century Greek tombs containing sepulchral lekythi,[50] and showing how the vases were arranged round the corpse.[51]

Rock-graves are seldom found in Greece, the normal form of tomb being a hole or trench dug in the earth, either filled in with earth or covered with tiles (as at Tanagra). The rock-grave is almost exclusively Asiatic, but some fine specimens were found at Kertch in the Crimea.[52] Some large ones have also been found in Rhodes,[53] but the most typical form of tomb there is a square chamber cut out of the hard clayey earth, approached by a square vertical shaft and a door. They generally contained single bodies, round which were ranged vases and terracotta figures. Sir A. Biliotti, in his diary of the excavations at Kameiros (1864), also records the finding of tombs cut in the clay in the form of longitudinal trenches, covered with flat stones forming a vaulted roof. Others were merely troughs cut in the surface of the rock and covered with stones and earth. In the shafts of the first type of tomb large jars or πίθοι were often found containing the bones of children (see page 152). Nearly all these tombs have yielded Greek vases of all dates. In the island of Karpathos[54] Mr. J. T. Bent found tombs containing early pottery, consisting of two or three chambers with stone benches round the sides.

The tombs of Cyprus are especially interesting for two reasons: firstly, that they exhibit types not found elsewhere; and, secondly, that they vary in size and character at different periods of the island’s history. In the earliest tombs of the Bronze Age period (down to about 800 B.C.) we find a very simple type, consisting of a mere oven-like hole a few feet below the surface of the ground, with a short sloping δρόμος leading to it (Fig. 2). These tombs have very rarely been found intact, and in most cases are full of fallen earth, so that exact details of their original arrangement can seldom be obtained. Each tomb generally contained a few exported Mycenaean vases and a large number of local fabric, usually hand-made and rude in character. The rich cemetery of Enkomi is, however, an exception, for here we find large _built_ tombs, with roofs and walls of stone. Sometimes the Bronze Age tombs were in the form of a deep well.[55]

In the Graeco-Phoenician period (about 700–300 B.C.) the “oven” type of tomb is preserved, but on a larger scale and at a greater depth, and often reached by a long flight of stone steps. These tombs usually contain large quantities of the local geometrical pottery, as many as eighty or a hundred vases being sometimes found in one tomb. At Curium and elsewhere, where the tombs contain Greek painted vases, they are sometimes in the form of narrow ramifying passages.

The tombs of the Hellenistic period are of a very elaborate character, especially those of Roman date, with long narrow δρόμος leading to a chamber some ten by twenty feet or more, round the walls of which are sarcophagi and niches; but these tombs seldom contain any but plain and inferior pottery, the manufacture of painted vases in the island having come to an end, as in the rest of Greece.

Frequently a tomb was found to contain pottery of widely different periods, especially in cemeteries such as Amathus and Curium, where the finds are of all dates, showing that the tombs were used again and again for burials.[56]

The tombs in the Cyrenaica, which were explored by Mr. Dennis and contained many Greek vases, he describes as follows[57]: “The great majority of the tombs were sunk in the rock, in the form of pits, from 6 to 7 feet long, from 3½ to 4½ feet wide, and from 5 to 6 feet deep.... Vases were sometimes placed in all four corners of the sepulchre, but this was rare; they were generally confined to two corners, often to one. The most usual place was the corner to the right of the head, and this was the place of honour; for here a Panathenaic vase in the tomb of a victor, a ribbed amphora of glazed black ware, or more commonly an ordinary wine-_diota_, would be deposited upright, with a number of smaller vases within it, or at its foot, either figured or of black or plain ware, according to the circumstances of the deceased. Occasionally small vases, or sometimes terracotta figures, were placed along the sides of the tomb, between the head and feet of the corpse; but I do not remember ever to have found vases deposited on the breast, or under the arms of the deceased, as was often the case in the Greek tombs of Sicily.”

Mr. Arthur Evans has given an interesting account of the tombs at Gela (Terranuova) in Sicily, from which he has excavated many fine vases for the Ashmolean Museum.[58] Chronologically the limits of their date can be ascertained, between the foundation of Gela in 589 B.C. and its depopulation by the Carthaginians in 409 B.C., but a few tombs belong to the subsequent period down to 284 B.C., when it was finally destroyed by the Mamertines. In the early graves containing B.F. vases skeletons were found; these tombs were in the form of terracotta cists with gabled covers and tiled floors. The next stage, containing R.F. vases, has vaulted roofs made of two pieces of stone. During this period cremation-pits containing ashes and bones are sometimes found; the burnt bones were placed in kraters and covered with shallow vessels. In these were found white lekythi, in some respects rivalling those of Athens; but the subjects are domestic rather than sepulchral, and they are probably, like many of the B.F. and R.F. vases, local fabrics. Some of the tombs with B.F. vases are in the form of chambers with vaulted cement roofs. In the earlier tombs the disposition was usually as follows: a kylix on the left side of the head, an alabastron under the right arm, and a lekythos under the left (Fig. 3.). The tombs of Selinus, which are all of early date, have been described by a local explorer.[59]

We next review the types of tombs in Italy from which vases have been obtained. Those at Vulci, and in the Etruscan territory generally, from which the finest and largest vases have been extracted, are chambers hewn in the rocks. The early tombs of Civita Vecchia and Cervetri are tunnelled in the earth; in Southern Italy, especially in Campania, they are large chambers, about two feet under the surface. In D'Hancarville’s work (see p. 17) an illustration is given[60] of a tomb in Southern Italy, which is constructed of large blocks of stone, arranged in squared masses, called the Etruscan style of masonry, in contradistinction to the Cyclopean. The walls are painted with subjects, the body is laid upon the stone floor, and the larger vases, such as the kraters, are placed round it. The jugs are hung upon nails round the walls. Fig. 4. gives an example of a tomb of this kind from Veii. A full account, with illustrations, of the tombs excavated in the Certosa at Bologna about thirty years ago, has been given by Signor Zannoni.[61] The tombs of Southern and Central Italy were made upon the same plan, and the same description applies to both sites.[62]

The most ordinary tombs were constructed of rude stones or tiles, of a dimension sufficient to contain the body and five or six vases; a small one near the head and others between the legs, and on each side, more often on the right than on the left side. An oinochoe and phiale were usually found in every tomb; but the number, size, and quality of the vases varied, probably according to the rank or wealth of the person for whom the tomb was made. The better sort of tombs were of larger size, and constructed with large hewn stones, generally without, but sometimes completed with, cement; the walls were stuccoed, and sometimes ornamented with painted patterns.

In these tombs, which were like small chambers, the body lay face upwards on the floor, with the vases placed round it; sometimes vases have been found hanging upon nails of iron or bronze, attached to the side walls. The vases in the larger tombs were always more numerous, of a larger size, and of a superior quality in every respect to those of the ordinary tombs, which had little to recommend them except their form.

Many of the larger and more important Etruscan tombs have also been described and illustrated by Dennis in his work on Etruria, especially those of Vulci and Corneto, which are famous both for their contents and for the paintings which adorn their walls.[63] In the basement of the British Museum may be seen large models of Etruscan tombs in which the arrangement is carefully reproduced.

The vases, as we have already mentioned, are often ranged round the dead, being hung upon or placed near the walls, or piled up in the corners. Some hold the ashes of the deceased; others, small objects used during life. They are seldom perfect, having generally either been crushed into fragments by the weight of the superincumbent earth, or else broken into sherds, and thrown into corners. Some exhibit marks of burning, probably from having accompanied the deceased to the funeral pyre. Sometimes they are dug up in a complete state of preservation, and still full of the ashes of the dead.[64] These are sometimes found inside a large and coarser vase of unglazed clay, which forms a case to protect them from the earth.

* * * * *

Almost all the vases in the museums of Europe have been mended, and the most skilful workmen at Naples and Rome were employed to restore them to their pristine perfection. Their defective parts were scraped, filed, rejoined, and supplied with pieces from other vases, or else completed in plaster of Paris, over which coating the restored portions were painted in appropriate colours, and varnished, so as to deceive the inexperienced eye. But either through carelessness, or else owing to the difference of process, the restorations had one glaring technical defect: the inner lines are not of the glossy hue of the genuine vases, and there is no indication of the thick raised line which follows the original outline in the old paintings. Sometimes the restorer pared away the ancient incrustation, and cut down to the dull-coloured paste of the body of the vase. Sometimes he even went so far as to paint figures in a light red or orange oil paint on the black ground, or in black paint of the same kind on orange ground. But in all these frauds the dull tone of colour, the inferior style of art, and the wide difference between modern and ancient drawing and treatment of subjects, disclose the deception. The calcareous incrustation deposited on the vases by the infiltration into the tombs of water, containing lime in solution, can be removed by soaking the vases in a solution of hydrochloric acid.[65]

In other cases vases with subjects have been counterfeited by taking an ancient vase covered entirely with black glaze, tracing upon it the subject and inscription intended to be fabricated, and cutting away all the black portions surrounding these tracings, so as to expose the natural colour of the clay for the fictitious ground. When red figures were intended to be counterfeited, the contrary course was adopted, the part for the figures only being scraped away, and the rest left untouched. Vases, indeed, in which the ground or figures are below the surface should always be regarded with suspicion, and their genuineness can only be determined by the general composition and style of the figures, and by the peculiarities of the inscriptions. The latter also are often fictitious, being painted in with colours imitating the true ones, and often incised; indeed, nearly all inscriptions incised after the vase has been baked are liable to give rise to suspicion. The difference of style in the composition of groups, and especially small points in the drawing, such as the over-careful drawing of details, the indication of nails, and various other minute particulars, are also criteria for detecting false or imitated vases. Water, alcohol, and acids will remove false inscriptions, but leave the true ones intact.

Greek vases are not so easy to imitate as terracotta figures, the main difficulty being the black varnish, which can never be successfully reproduced. Acids or alcohol will always remove modern counterfeits, but cannot touch the original substance. Since the discovery in Greece of white-ground vases forgers have had a better chance, and they have often ingeniously availed themselves of genuine ancient vases on which to place modern paintings. But the antique drawing is exceedingly difficult to imitate. In former times Pietro Fondi established manufactories at Venice and Corfu, and the Vasari family at Venice, for fictitious vases,[66] and many such imitations have been made at Naples for the purpose of modern decoration.

The first to make such an attempt in England was the famous potter Wedgwood, whose copy of the Portland Vase is well known. His paste is, however, too heavy, and his drawings far inferior to the antique in freedom and spirit. At Naples, chiefly through the researches and under the direction of Gargiulo, vases were produced, which in their paste and glaze resembled the antique, although the drawings were vastly inferior, and the imitation could be at once detected by a practised eye. They were, indeed, far inferior in all essential respects to the ancient vases. Even soon after the acquisition of the Hamilton collection by the public, the taste created for these novelties caused various imitations to be produced. Some of the simplest kind were made of wood, covered with painted paper, the subjects being traced from the vases themselves, and this was the most obvious mode of making them. Battam also made very excellent facsimiles of these vases, but they were produced in a manner very different from that of the ancient potters, the black colour for the grounds or figures not being laid on with a glaze, but merely with a cold pigment which had not been fired, and their lustre was produced by a polish. In technical details they did not equal the imitations made at Naples, some of the best of which deceived both archaeologists and collectors.

Sometimes illustrations of vases which never had any real existence have appeared in publications. One of the most remarkable of these fabricated engravings was issued by Bröndsted and Stackelberg in a fit of archaeological jealousy. A modern archaeologist is seen running after a draped woman called [PHÊMÊ], or “Fame,” who flies from him exclaiming, [ΕΚΑΣ ΠΑΙ ΚΑΛΕ], “A long way off, my fine fellow!” This vase, which never existed except upon paper, deceived the credulous Inghirami, who too late endeavoured to cancel it from his work. Other vases, evidently false, have also been published.[67]

M. Tyszkiewicz, the great collector, in his entertaining _Souvenirs_,[68] gives some interesting illustrations of the methods of Italian forgers of vases, of which he had frequent experience. “The Neapolitans,” he says, “excel above all others in this industry; and it is in ancient Capua, now Sta. Maria di Capua Vetere, that the best _ateliers_ for the manufacture of painted vases are situated.” But “even the famous connoisseur Raimondi, who was considered the master of his art at Sta. Maria—even he could never invent altogether the decoration of a vase so as to make it pass for an antique. Only if this talented artist could get just a few fragments of a fine vase, he was clever enough to be able, by the aid of illustrations of vases in museums or in private collections, to reconstruct the whole subject. He replaced the missing parts, and threw such an air of uniformity over the vase that it was almost impossible to tell what was modern. But if you tried to wash a vase faked up in this manner, in pure alcohol chemically rectified, you would find that the modern portions would vanish, while the ancient paintings would remain. Neither Raimondi nor any one else could ever manage to discover the secret of the ancient potters—how to obtain the background of a brilliant black colour, improperly known as the _varnish of Nola_. To disguise their failure in this respect, the forgers are obliged, when the vase is entirely reconstructed and repainted, to cover it all over with a varnish of their own invention; but the surface of this varnish, although brilliant, lacks the freshness and brightness of that used by the ancients. Relatively this surface appears dull, and vanishes the moment it is washed with alcohol.”

At Athens also, says M. Tyszkiewicz, laboratories have been established for making vases, of which he was acquainted with three. These forgers excel in turning out the white-ground vases, which, even when antique, cannot resist the action of alcohol. For the same reason they apply gilding to their black-and-red vases, because this also yields to its action. The large prices fetched by the white vases (see below) have stimulated their activity in this direction, and their efforts have not been without artistic merit, though failing in technique.[69]

On the subject of forgeries in relation to Greek vases the literature is very scanty; but reference may be made to Prof. Furtwaengler’s _Neuere Fälschungen von Antiken_, which raises some very interesting questions in regard to forgeries, though his conclusions may sometimes be thought rather arbitrary.

Of the prices paid for painted vases in ancient times, no positive mention occurs in classical authorities, yet it is most probable that vases of the best class, the products of eminent painters, obtained considerable prices. For works of inferior merit only small sums were paid, as will be seen by referring to the account of the inscriptions which were incised underneath their feet, and gave their contemporary value (Chapter XVII.). In modern times we have no information about the prices paid for these works of art till about seventy years ago, when they began to realise considerable sums. In this country the collections of Mr. Towneley, Sir W. Hamilton, Lord Elgin, and Mr. Payne Knight all contained painted vases; but as they included other objects, it is difficult to determine the value placed on the vases. The sum of £8,400 was paid for the vases of the Hamilton collection, one of the most remarkable of the time, and consisting of many beautiful specimens from Southern Italy. The great discoveries of the Prince of Canino in 1827, and the subsequent sale of numerous vases, gave them, however, a definite market value, to which the sale of the collection of Baron Durand, which consisted almost entirely of vases, affords some clue. His collection sold in 1836 for 313,160 francs, or about £12,524. The most valuable specimen in the collection was the vase representing the death of Kroisos (Fig. 132), which was purchased for the Louvre at the price of 6,600 francs, or £264. The cup with the subject of Arkesilaos (p. 342) brought 1,050 francs, or £42. Another magnificent vase, now in the Louvre, with the subject of the youthful Herakles strangling the serpents,[70] was only secured for France after reaching the price of 6,000 francs, or £240; another, with the subject of Herakles, Deianeira, and Hyllos,[71] was purchased for the sum of 3,550 francs, or £142. A krater, with the subject of Akamas and Demophon bringing back Aithra, was obtained by Magnoncourt for 4,250 francs, or £170.[72] An amphora of the maker Exekias (B 210) was bought by the British Museum for £142. The inferior vases of course realised much smaller sums, varying from a few francs to a few pounds; but high prices continued to be obtained, and the sale by the Prince of Canino in 1837 of some of his finest vases contributed to enrich the museums of Europe, although, as many of the vases were bought in, it does not afford a good criterion as to price. An oinochoë with Apollo and the Muses, and a hydria, with the same subject, were bought in for 2,000 francs, or £80 each. A kylix, with a love scene, and another with Priam redeeming Hektor’s corpse,[73] brought 6,600 francs, or £264. An amphora with the subject of Dionysos, and the Euphronios cup with Herakles and Geryon (Plate XXXVIII.), sold for 8,000 francs, or £320 each. A vase with the subject of Theseus seizing Korone (Chap. XIV.), another by Euthymides with the arming of Paris, and a third with Peleus and Thetis, sold for 6,000 francs, or £240. The collector Steuart was offered 7,500 francs, or £300, for a large krater, found in Southern Italy, ornamented with the subject of Kadmos and the dragon; £120 was paid by the British Museum for a fine krater ornamented with the exploits of Achilles[74]; £100 for an amphora of Apulian style, with the subject of Pelops and Oinomaos at the altar of the Olympian Zeus.[75] For another vase, with the name of Mousaios, £120 was paid, and £100 for the well-known Athenian prize vase excavated by Burgon.[76] At Mr. Beckford’s sale the Duke of Hamilton gave £200 for a lekythos representing a procession of Persians, which is now in the British Museum (E 695). At Naples the passion for possessing fine vases outstripped these prices; 2,400 ducats, or £500, was given for a vase with gilded figures discovered at Capua. Still more incredible, early in the nineteenth century, 8,000 ducats, or £1,500, was paid to Vivenzio for the vase now in the Naples Museum representing the sack of Troy; 6,000 ducats, or £1,000, for one with a Dionysiac feast; and 4,000 ducats, or £800, for the grand vase with the battle of the Amazons, published by Schulz.[77] Another vase, for which the sum of £1,000 was paid, was the so-called Capo di Monte Vase, purchased by Mr. Edwards, at Naples.[78] For the large colossal vases of Southern Italy from £300 to £500 has been given, according to their condition and style. But such sums will not be hereafter realised, now that their place in the estimation of the connoisseur has been rightly taken by the fine red-figured or white ground vases, which, owing to the stringency of modern laws, seldom now find their way into the market. The vases with white grounds and polychrome figures have also been always much sought after, and have realised large prices, the best-preserved examples fetching as much as £70 or £100.[79] Generally the highest prices have been paid for artistic merit, but these have been surpassed in the case of some vases of high literary or historical value. As a general rule vases with inscriptions have always been most sought after, especially when the inscriptions are the signatures of the names of potters or artists, or names of historical interest. The inferior kinds have fetched prices much more moderate, the kylikes averaging from £5 to £10, the amphorae from £10 to £20, the hydriae about the same; the kraters from £5 to £20, according to their general excellence, the oinochoae about £5, and other shapes from a few shillings to a few pounds. The charming glaze and shapes of the vases discovered at Nola have often obtained good prices from amateurs. Those of Greece Proper have also fetched higher prices than those of Italy, on account of the interest attached to the place of their discovery.[80]

* * * * *

We propose now to give a survey of the principal localities in which the fictile products of the Greeks have been discovered, and the excavations which have taken place on these sites. It need hardly be said, however, that it is quite impossible to detail all the places where specimens of common pottery have been found.

I. GREECE

We naturally begin with Greece, following the geographical order observed by Jahn,[81] as the mainland and centre of Hellenic civilisation; and since Athens was not only the principal, for many years the only, centre of the manufacture of Greek vases, but has also been the most prolific source of recent discoveries, it is to Athens that we first turn our attention.

=Athens= was duly celebrated in ancient times as the chief home of the ceramic industry.[82] The clay of Cape Kolias is eulogised by Suidas for its excellent qualities, and the extent of the Κεραμεικός, or potters’ quarter, is still visible beyond the Dipylon gate. One of the earliest painted vases found on Attic soil was the famous Panathenaic amphora discovered by Burgon in 1813 outside the Acharnian gate, and now in the British Museum.[83] The tomb in which it was found also contained remains of burnt bones, a lekythos, and other small vases. The subjects are: on one side Athena brandishing a spear, with the inscription [ΤΟΝ] [ΑΘΕΝΕΘΕΝ] [ΑΘΛΟΝ] [ΕΜΙ], “I am a prize from the games at Athens”; on the other, a man driving a _biga_, or two-horse chariot. The date is usually considered to be about 560 B.C. It was rightly identified by the early writers as one of the prize-vases described by Pindar in the passage we have quoted elsewhere (p. 132), and was the means of identifying many other vases similarly painted and inscribed, but found on other sites, as belonging to the same class. A considerable number of vases found on Greek soil, mostly at Athens, were published by Stackelberg in 1837,[84] but little was done for many years in the way of systematic excavation. The National Museum was opened shortly after the declaration of Greek independence, and assisted by royal benefactions. The law forbidding the export of antiquities has now been in force for many years, but unfortunately has had a bad as well as a good effect, in that the vendors of surreptitious finds are wont to give imaginary accounts of the circumstances of their discoveries, in order to screen themselves.

To give anything like a description of the vases found at Athens would be useless here, where so many classes are illustrated by the finds; it may, however, be worth while to note a few of the most typically Athenian groups of pottery. (1) Earliest in date are the Dipylon vases, which were found outside the gate of that name, and have from their conspicuous character given a name to a whole class. They are, however, fully treated of in Chapter VII. (2) The numerous fragments of vases found on the Acropolis, which can all be dated anterior to 480 B.C., include many exceedingly beautiful and unique specimens of the transitional period of vase-painting, some having black, some red figures.[85] Although in few cases anything more than fragments have been preserved, yet these fragments are enough to show that the originals were masterpieces surpassing even the finest examples from the Italian cemeteries. They will, it is to be hoped, shortly be made known to the world by means of an exhaustive catalogue. (3) The white lekythi, discussed at length elsewhere (Chapter XI.), besides forming a class by themselves, are specially remarkable as being almost peculiar to Athens. It is not, however, certain that they were not made also at Eretria, where many fine ones have been found of late years; but otherwise none have been found outside Attica, with the exception of a few importations to Cyprus, Locri in Italy, or Sicily. (4) A group of late R.F. vases of the “fine” style, mostly of small size and sometimes with polychrome decoration. The drawing is free and graceful, but tends to carelessness; the subjects are drawn chiefly from the life of women and children. Some of the smaller specimens were no doubt actually children’s playthings.

Elsewhere in Attica vases have not been numerous. _Eleusis_ has yielded some interesting fragments,[86] including a plaque of about 400 B.C., with an interesting representation of the local deities, found in 1895; at _Marathon_ the grave of the fallen warriors has been recently explored, and was found to contain both B.F. and R.F. vases, but none of particular merit.[87] The find was, however, important, as illustrating Greek methods of burial. The tombs of _Phaleron_ are important, as having yielded a special class of early vases which are known by the name of the site.[88] These Phaleron vases combine in an interesting manner the characteristics of the Geometrical and Rhodian or Oriental styles, being akin to the so-called Proto-Corinthian. The beehive tombs at _Menidi_ and _Spata_ and other tombs at _Haliki_, near Marathon, have yielded Mycenaean pottery of the usual types, and an instructive find of early Geometrical pottery has been made at _Aphidna_.[89] There are vases in the museums of Athens and Berlin of various dates, to which the following provenances are assigned: Alike, Alopeke, Hymettos,[90] Kephissia, Cape Kolias,[91] Pikrodaphni,[92] Peiraeus,[93] Sunium,[94] Thorikos,[95] Trakhones,[96] Vari,[97] Velanideza, and Vourva, the two latter near Marathon.[98] _Megara_[99] has produced little beyond specimens of a class of late bowls with designs in relief, sometimes known as “Megarian bowls,” but more probably of Boeotian origin (see p. 53).

=Corinth=, as a centre of the manufacture of vases, occupied in early times a position in Greece only second to Athens. Down to the first half of the sixth century it actually seems to have held the pre-eminence; but after the rise of Athens it sank altogether into obscurity, and ceased to produce any pottery at all after about 520 B.C. But we know from Strabo[100] that the fame of Corinthian wares still existed in Roman times, for in the days of Julius Caesar the tombs of the new Colonia Julia were ransacked for the vases which were the admiration of the rich nobles of Rome. The expression used by Strabo, ὀστράκινα τορεύματα, seems to imply that these were probably specimens of the later relief-ware which did not become popular in Greece before the fourth century, but then gradually ousted the painted fabrics.

Corinth, like Athens, claimed the invention of pottery and of the wheel; it was also one of the supposed centres of the origin of painting in Greece. We read, moreover, that when Demaratos fled thence to Italy he took with him two artists named Eucheir and Eugrammos, who doubtless helped to develop the art of vase-making in Etruria. The vases found here are nearly all of the early archaic and B.F. periods, from the so-called Proto-Corinthian wares down to ordinary B.F. fabrics. The Mycenaean and Geometrical styles are practically unrepresented, but occasional finds have been made of Attic B.F. and R.F. vases. With these exceptions all were actually made at Corinth, as is shown in many cases by the inscriptions in the local alphabet painted upon the vases.

The earliest discovery, and in some respects one of the most remarkable, was the vase known as the Dodwell pyxis (see p. 315), which was acquired by that traveller in 1805, and is now at Munich. In 1835 a large number of vases were found by peasants at Chiliomodi, the ancient _Tenea_,[101] one of which represented Herakles and the Centaur Nessos; most of these are now at Athens. In 1843 Ross[102] records the discovery of over a thousand at various sites, on the Isthmus and at or near Tenea, and ever since that time tomb-digging has been carried on without intermission. The best collections of Corinthian vases are those at Athens, Berlin, and the British Museum. But the most noteworthy find at Corinth has been that of the series of plaques (πίνακες) or votive tablets discovered at Penteskouphia in 1879, most of which are now at Berlin. They are all of votive character, and come from the rubbish-heap of a temple of Poseidon; most of them are painted with figures of and inscribed with dedications to that deity, and they belong to the late seventh or early sixth century B.C.[103] The British Museum possesses a R.F. “pelike” from _Solygea_, near Corinth, and isolated finds are also recorded from _Sikyon_.[104]

Turning to the adjoining state of Argolis, we find three sites of special importance in early times—Mycenae, Tiryns, and Argos. Of these the two former had ceased to have any importance in historic times, but this is amply compensated for by the wonderful discoveries of the Mycenaean period.[105] At _Mycenae_ large quantities of painted pottery were found in the six shaft-tombs in the Agora, five of which were excavated by Dr. Schliemann; outside the Acropolis, and possibly belonging to a later period, was found the remarkable vase with figures of warriors marching.[106] The finds at _Tiryns_ were chiefly fragmentary, but at _Nauplia_, where considerable quantities were found, there were some fragments with painted designs of chariots like the vases from Cyprus (p. 246).[107] Mycenaean pottery has also been found at _Asine_,[108] and the site of the Heraion at _Argos_, recently excavated by the American School, has yielded an exhaustive series of fragments of pottery, representative of nearly every known fabric from Mycenaean times down to the best Greek period. They have not as yet been published, but may be expected to yield important results. Other occasional finds are reported from Argos, including a curious archaic vase with a representation of Herakles and Kerberos.[109] At _Kleonae_, on the northern frontier of the state, was found a Corinthian vase signed by Timonidas, and there are vases from _Hermione_ in the museum at Athens.[110]

In the rest of the Peloponnese finds of painted vases have been exceedingly rare. The Berlin Museum possesses a B.F. vase found at _Megalopolis_,[111] and isolated finds are also recorded from _Magoula_ in Laconia and _Amyklae_ near Sparta.[112] At _Olympia_ painted vases were very rare, but several different fabrics from the Proto-Corinthian downwards are represented by fragments.[113]

In Central and Northern Greece the only fruitful region has been =Boeotia=, particularly its capital, _Thebes_. This city, like Corinth, has principally yielded early vases. As has been shown elsewhere (pp. 286, 300), Boeotia was the home of more than one indigenous fabric, notably the local variety of Geometrical ware, partly parallel with that of Athens and other sites, partly a degenerate variety with local peculiarities, forming a transition to the Phaleron and Proto-Corinthian fabrics. The last-named have frequently been found at Thebes, notably the Macmillan lekythos in the British Museum. Signed vases of local fabric, with the names of Gamedes, Menaidas, and Theozotos, are in the British Museum and in the Louvre. On the site of the Temple of the Kabeiri, near Thebes, a remarkable series of late B.F. pottery came to light, evidently a local fabric, with dedicatory inscriptions and subjects of a grotesque or caricatured nature.[114] They are quite peculiar to the site, and seem to have had a close connection with its religious rites. Besides many examples of the Geometrical and Corinthian fabrics, there have been found at Thebes several specimens of the so-called Megarian bowls with reliefs, of the second century B.C.; the proportion to other sites is such that Thebes has been thought to be the centre of the fabric. Another local fabric is that produced by _Tanagra_ about the end of the fifth century B.C., consisting of small cups, toilet-boxes, etc., with somewhat naïve outlined designs.[115] The vase-finds here have served as evidence for the dating of the terracotta statuettes, with which no painted fabrics were found, but only ribbed or moulded black-glaze wares, characteristic of the fourth and third centuries B.C.[116] Where painted vases have been found, the accompanying statuettes were all of an archaic or even primitive type.[117]

In excavations at _Orchomenos_ in 1893[118] the French School unearthed large numbers of fragments, Mycenaean, Boeotian Geometrical, Proto-Corinthian, Corinthian, and Attic black-figured; Mycenaean vases have been found at _Lebadea_, and Thespiae, Thisbe, and Akraiphiae are also mentioned as sites where painted vases have been found.[119] Very few sites in Northern Greece have yielded finds of pottery, but the Athens Museum contains R.F. vases from _Lokris_, _Phokis_, and _Lamia_[120] on the Malian Gulf, and finds are also recorded from Anthedon,[121] Atalante,[122] Exarchos, and Galaxidi in Lokris, from Elateia,[123] Abae,[124] and Daulis in Phokis, and from Thessaly. Fragments of painted pottery were seen by early travellers at _Delphi_.[125] At _Daulis_ the pottery was of Mycenaean character,[126] as also that from the beehive-tombs of Volo in Thessaly and its neighbourhood. A recent excavation at _Dimini_ is reported to have yielded very early painted vases of a quite new, probably local ware, with affinities to the Cycladic types of Thera and elsewhere.[127]

Turning now to the Greek islands, we find somewhat more extensive and interesting results. Little indeed has been found in the Ionian Islands of the western coast,[128] even in _Corfu_, which as a rule has been fruitful in works of art. The only vases worth mentioning from that island are those found in the cemetery of Kastrades, in the tomb of Menekrates.[129] The contents of this tomb, which are all of an early and somewhat mixed character, are now in the British Museum; they can be dated from the inscription on the tomb about 600 B.C. Travelling round by the south of the Peloponnese, we come to _Kythera_, which has yielded a cup (now in the British Museum) remarkable for its inscription, ἡμικοτύλιον; it is illustrated below, p. 135. _Salamis_[130] again has produced little, but some interesting pottery of a transitional character from Mycenaean to Geometrical has been found.[131]

=Aegina= appears to have been a pottery centre in early times, and recent discoveries are adding to our knowledge of its fabrics. Among the older finds from this island are a fine early oinochoe in the British Museum (from the Castellani collection), formerly supposed to be from Thera,[132] and several very fine red-figured and white-ground vases, notably the elegant R.F. astragalos or knucklebone-shaped vase in the British Museum, with its figures of dancers; a white Athenian lekythos, with the subject of Charon,[133] and two beautiful vases now in the Munich Museum (208, 209), with polychrome designs on a white ground.[134] In 1892–93 the British Museum acquired a series of Mycenaean, Corinthian, and Attic vases from a find on this island,[135] and other examples of Corinthian and Attic vases are recorded.[136] In 1894 excavations were made on the site of the so-called temple of Aphrodite, and yielded a number of early vases chiefly Mycenaean, Geometrical of the Athenian type, and a large series of Proto-Corinthian wares, some of unusual size.[137] Some of this pottery may possibly be of local fabric. More recently the excavations on the site of the great Doric temple (now shown to be dedicated to the goddess Aphaia) have yielded an extensive series of fragments of different dates.[138] Aegina was always celebrated in antiquity for its artistic achievements, and that it was a centre for pottery is indicated by an anonymous comic writer, who addresses the island as “rocky echo, vendor of pots” (χυτρόπωλις).[139]

=Euboea= possessed two important art-centres in Chalkis and Eretria. It is true that no vases have actually been found at Chalkis, but the existence of early B.F. vases with inscriptions in the local dialect amply testifies to the existence of potteries there (see p. 321). _Eretria_, on the other hand, has been carefully excavated in recent years, and has yielded many antiquities both of the early and of the finest period. Among the former are vases of a type akin to the earlier Attic fabrics, but distinguished by the use of a “pot-hook” decorative ornament, and others more akin to the Attic B.F. vases, but clearly of local make[140]; among the latter are so many fine white-ground lekythi (as well as other forms) that it has been supposed that they must have been specially manufactured here as well as at Athens. The British Museum has lately acquired several white-ground and late R.F. vases of considerable beauty from this site. Many years ago an inscribed Corinthian vase was found at Karystos.[141]

=The Cyclades.=—In these islands we find traces of absolutely the earliest fabrics known in the history of Greek pottery, but later finds of painted vases are comparatively rare. Mycenaean pottery has been found in the islands of Amorgos,[142] Delos and Rheneia, Kythnos, Seriphos, Sikinos, Syros, Thera, and Melos.[143] Other finds recorded are from Paros and Antiparos (early fabrics), Keos, Kimolos,[144] Kythnos,[145] Siphnos, and Syros[146]; a remarkable Ionic vase in the Louvre, found in Etruria, has also been attributed to an island fabric, that of Keos,[147] and another at Würzburg to that of Naxos.[148] The chief finds of “Cycladic” or pre-Mycenaean pottery are those from the volcanic deposits of the island of _Thera_ (see p. 260), which, from the circumstances of their discovery and the geological history of the island, are supposed to date back beyond 2000 B.C. They are painted with vegetable patterns in brown on a white ground, and have chiefly been excavated by the French School during the years 1867–74; a few are in Athens, but the majority are in the Louvre or the Sèvres Museum. In the superincumbent layers Mycenaean and Geometrical pottery came to light,[149] and a fragment of a large Melian amphora with the so-called Asiatic Artemis, now in the Berlin Museum (No. 301), is stated by Ross to have come from this island. The same traveller saw here large πίθοι with painted subjects of early character and similar smaller vases, also some with black figures, in a private collection.[150] More recently (in 1900) excavations made in the Acropolis cemetery by German archaeologists yielded a large quantity of pottery, chiefly Geometrical in character, extending from the eighth to the middle of the sixth century B.C.[151]

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,

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.

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.

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 are: in Apulia and Calabria, Ruvo, Canosa, and Tarentum; in Lucania, Anzi; in Campania, Capua and Nola.

We now proceed to describe in detail these sites and the discoveries of which they have been the scene. It is obvious that it will be found impossible to enumerate every spot in Italy where painted vases have been found, but it is hoped that no place or site of interest has been omitted. The order followed in describing these sites is a geographical one from north to south, which on the whole will be found the most convenient.

We accordingly begin with the northernmost spot to which the exportation of Greek vases seems to have reached—namely, Atria or _Hadria_, at the mouth of the Po. This place down to the time of Pliny[207] continued to manufacture drinking-cups of fine quality, celebrated for their durability, and painted vases have also been found in its tombs. They were first excavated as early as the sixteenth century; and in later excavations undertaken by the Austrian Government fragments of Greek pottery were found at some depth below remains of the Roman period.[208]

The cities of _Asti_, _Modena_ (Mutina), and _Pollenza_ (Pollentia) were also celebrated in Pliny’s time for their cups, which he groups with those of Arretium under the heading of “Samian” ware[209]; specimens of this ware have been found in the two latter places.[210] Near Mantua a vase was discovered with the subject of Perseus and Andromeda[211]; and others at Gavolda on the Mincio.[212] At Genoa a fine R.F. krater was found in 1898.[213]

_Bologna_ has been the scene of discoveries sufficiently important to demand a separate paragraph. These were made by Signor Zannoni, in 1869–76, in the cloister of the Certosa convent, and a fully illustrated description was published by him at the conclusion of his labours.[214] The finds include, besides remarkable bronzes of the Villanova period of Italian civilisation (800–500 B.C.), a large number of B.F. and R.F. vases covering the whole period of exportations from Athens to Etruria (550–400 B.C.), and also some local imitations of B.F. fabrics. All these are now in the Museo Civico at Bologna.

Turning now to the important district of ETRURIA, which has been so prolific in discoveries of ancient vases, we come first to _Pisa_, where, in the beginning of the last century, a potter’s establishment was discovered. Since that time red-figured vases both of the severe and fine styles have been found, including a hydria figured by Inghirami.[215]

At _Volterra_ (Volaterrae) Jahn states that many painted vases have been found[216]; but the contents of the local museum are limited to inferior Etruscan pottery of the later period with yellow figures on black ground or staring heads painted in silhouette. On the other hand some of the plain black ware is remarkably good.[217]

_Arezzo_ (Arretium) enjoyed in Pliny’s time an even wider reputation than the places already mentioned, for its pottery of all kinds, not only cups[218]; its ware is also referred to by Martial and other authors. These allusions have been fully borne out by the extensive discoveries of potteries that have been made; the red glazed ware, stamped with the potter’s name and with designs in relief, has been found in large quantities, and fully justified the substitution of the name Arretine for the old “Samian” in relation to the whole class. It is more fully dealt with in the section on Roman pottery (Chapter XXII.). Few Greek vases have been found here; but _Lucignano_ in the neighbourhood is mentioned as a site where they have been discovered.[219]

_Perugia_ was another important town of ancient Etruria, but does not appear to have been a centre either for the manufacture or importation of pottery. The museum, however, contains several good Greek vases with mythological subjects, and some Etruscan imitations of R.F. vases have also been found here.[220]

At _Chiusi_ (Clusium), on the other hand, some very important discoveries have been made, including the magnificent krater of the Florence Museum, known as the “François Vase,” after its discoverer.[221] It was found in a tomb which had been already pillaged, and was broken to pieces, but entire. Many vases of the B.F. and R.F. periods have been found, some signed with artists’ names, including those of Pamphaios and Anakles. On the whole, this site has yielded more fine vases than any in Etruria, except Cervetri, and of course Vulci; it is also noteworthy for the early Etruscan black wares, of which there are many remarkable specimens in the Museum.[222] The Casuccini collection, which was very representative of Chiusi finds, has now been disposed of _en bloc_ to the Museum at Palermo.[223]

In the immediate neighbourhood is _Sarteano_, also remarkable for the specimens of early black ware which it has yielded, but almost entirely deficient in painted vases. At _Roselle_ (Rusellae) and _Orbetello_ in the Maremma the finds of pottery have been of a comparatively insignificant character, the vases of Orbetello being nearly all late Etruscan fabrics, of rude forms, with coarse ill-drawn subjects. The same remark applies to _Toscanella_, near Vulci, where Greek vases are seldom found.

_Bolsena_ (Volsinii) is specially distinguished by a curious class of late vases of coarse red ware with designs in relief, which show evident signs of having been coated with a solution producing the effect of silver.[224] They seem to be peculiar to this locality, though Athenaeus[225] tells us that a similar practice was in vogue at Naukratis. No other kinds of pottery have been found.

At _Orvieto_ excavations were first made in 1830, but without very great results; the site was then neglected until the ’seventies, during which years Signor Mancini’s excavations were so successful that a local Museum has been established, which now contains many good specimens of Greek vases, as well as Etruscan black wares.[226] At _Viterbo_ various Greek vases, mostly black-figured, were found in the early ’twenties, and later on a kylix by the master Euphronios came to light.[227] _Bomarzo_ has yielded some good Greek vases, including signed examples by Euphronios and Hieron.[228]

_Corneto_ is more famous for the splendid wall-paintings of its tombs and for its coloured sarcophagi than for painted vases, but has nevertheless yielded some vases of considerable interest, notably a fine R.F. kylix with representation of the Olympian deities, signed by Oltos and Euxitheos, the beautiful kylix representing the desertion of Ariadne by Theseus,[229] and some specimens of Corinthian wares. Under its ancient name of Tarquinii it was of course famous as the spot to which Demaratos and his artist-companions were said to have fled from Corinth. Excavations were first begun in 1825–27. Besides the collection now in the public Museum,[230] there is a large one made by Count Bruschi from excavations on his own lands, the majority of the vases being of the B.F. period.[231] Not far distant are _Civita Vecchia_, represented only by some remarkable early vases in the British Museum,[232] Italian imitations of the Greek Dipylon ware, and La Tolfa, where Etruscan, Corinthian, and Ionic B.F. vases have been found.[233]

Few finds, at least of Greek pottery, have been made at _Civita Castellana_, the ancient Falerii; but this town appears to have had a special manufacture of its own in the fourth or third century B.C., like all other Etruscan fabrics an imitation of Greek vases, but with certain strongly marked peculiarities of drawing and colouring. There is a fine specimen in the British Museum.[234] These vases have only been found in recent years. The British Museum also (among others) possesses an interesting collection of local early black and red wares from this site, including two large caldrons on open-work stands, with Gryphons’ heads projecting. _Isola Farnese_, the ancient Veii, again, is more celebrated for its local fabrics than for Greek importations. Painted vases were found in 1838–39,[235] and in 1843 Campana discovered a remarkable tomb containing vases of early character without human figures, and early Italian wares. The archaic paintings of this tomb are of special interest for comparison with the vases of the period.[236]

Next to Vulci, which we have reserved for the last, by far the most important discoveries in Etruria are those made in the tombs of =Cervetri= (Caere), mostly of early fabrics. In 1836 the famous Regulini-Galassi tomb came to light, a passage-like structure sixty feet in length, with doorway of slabs sloping forward to form an arch; but it contained few vases. In the same year was found a remarkable vase of plain black ware, on which was engraved an early Greek alphabet, with a sort of syllabic primer.[237] Another tomb contained a series of slabs painted with archaic Etruscan figures in the style of early B.F. vases, which are now in the British Museum. Others of similar character are in the Louvre.[238] But though these large tombs yielded little painted pottery, yet Cervetri has been the site of many notable discoveries, chiefly of early B.F. vases illustrating various developments of vase-painting. The most important is formed by the series of hydriae named “Caeretan,” after the site, which are fully discussed in Chapter VIII.; and among other finds we may note the Amphiaraos krater at Berlin,[239] of Corinthian style. Excavations went on for many years from 1831 onwards, and yielded also some interesting later vases, including examples with the signatures of Nikosthenes, Xenokles, Pamphaios, Euphronios,[240] and Charitaios, and the famous vase representing the oil-merchant.[241] Jahn[242] gives a list of the most important red-figured vases found here. At _Selva la Rocca_, near Monteroni in the same neighbourhood, the Duchessa di Sermoneta excavated a series of Greek painted vases of all periods. Other sites in Etruria on which vases have been found are Doganella,[243] Ferento near Viterbo,[244] Capannori,[245] Montepulciano,[246] Pitigliano,[247] Poggia Sommavilla on the border of the Sabine territory,[248] S. Filippo dei Neri, Tragliatella.[249]

But the discoveries made on all the other Etruscan sites combined are surpassed, both in number and interest, by those of =Vulci=, a name which eighty years since was scarcely known, but now represents to us one of the most important cities of antiquity. The site is represented by the modern Ponte della Badia, a district of about five miles in circumference round the bridge over the stream Fiora, between the estates of Canino and Montalto. The former estate lay on the left bank, distinguished by a hill named Cucumella.

The discovery of painted vases here was brought about purely by accident, about the year 1828. Some oxen in ploughing broke through into an Etruscan tomb containing two broken vases, and thus the local landlord, the Prince of Canino, was led to further researches. In the course of four months he discovered about 2,000 objects in tombs on one small plot of ground, and subsequently other explorers joined in emulating his good fortune. The number of painted vases alone discovered during the year 1829 is reckoned at over 3,000, according to the elaborate report published by Gerhard in the _Annali_,[250] describing and classifying the results. It would not be too much to assert that nine-tenths of the painted vases that have been brought to light in Etruria are from this site. Most of those now in the British Museum are from Camposcala, on the Montalto estate; but many are from the collections formed by Lucien Bonaparte, the Prince of Canino, who continued to excavate intermittently for many years, though the numbers of the finds materially diminished after the first great discovery.

In recent years the only important excavations on this site have been those conducted by M. Gsell on the estate of Musignano, at the expense of the proprietor, Prince Torlonia. The object was to exhaust the site by sporadic diggings over the three principal areas of Ponte della Badia, Polledrara, and Cucumella. In all 136 tombs were opened, ranging from the period of “well-tombs” (about the ninth or eighth century B.C.) down to the chamber-tombs of the early fifth century.[251] Besides local pottery of all kinds they contained imported Greek fabrics from the Geometrical ware down to the red-figure period. The later included Corinthian vases of various kinds, a good “Tyrrhenian” amphora, and one of the “affected” B.F. style, a cup signed by Tleson and one in the style of Epiktetos, and Etruscan imitations of B.F. fabrics.

M. Tyszkiewicz, the great collector, in his entertaining _Souvenirs_,[252] tells a curious story of the fate of one of the vases found in M. Gsell’s excavations:—

“One day I received a visit from a country fellow, who said he had come from the neighbourhood of Canino, and brought with him a vase painted in the early Corinthian manner, the names of the figures being indicated by Greek inscriptions. The man declared he had discovered it in a tomb which had fallen in after heavy rains. The price asked was very reasonable, and the bargain was soon concluded. At that time M. van Branteghem ... was one of the most eager buyers of Greek vases, and he was so envious of my acquisition that I had real pleasure in giving it up to him. A little while after this, there called on me at my house a member of the French School in Rome, M. Gsell.... He began by asking me if I had not lately purchased a vase, which he closely described, and which proved to be the very one I had bought from the native of Canino. Now M. Gsell inspected so attentively the excavations under his care that it was impossible, he assured me, for the workmen to have stolen anything. All objects found were registered as soon as they were taken out of the tombs, and were locked up every evening in a warehouse. However, one day M. Gsell perceived that one had disappeared. He sent for the supposed thief (one of his superintendents), and by means of threats extracted a confession of the theft, and the name of the amateur to whom the vase had been sold. In conclusion, M. Gsell entreated me to let him have the vase.... Having parted with the vase, I felt the situation very embarrassing, but I told my interlocutor what had happened, and why I had handed the vase over to M. van Branteghem. The distress of M. Gsell on hearing this news touched me to such a degree that I ended by telling him that, knowing M. van Branteghem to be a gentleman, I would inform him he had become the owner of stolen goods, and throw myself on his mercy. The same day I wrote to the Belgian amateur and made a clean breast of the matter, and the vase was returned as quickly as possible. The vase was replaced in the museum of the Prince Torlonia at the Lungara.

“Years passed away, when one morning I was told that a peasant, who was waiting in the hall, desired to show me an antique work of art. This was an event of daily occurrence—indeed, it happened several times every day, and usually I found that the object for whose sake I had been disturbed was either quite uninteresting or else a fraud. But this time—astonishing fact!—I was shown the very vase that I had restored to the French School, and had afterwards seen at the Lungara Museum. Once again it had been stolen!”

The tombs in which the vases were found were mostly small grottoes hollowed in the tufa, and with a few exceptions only a few feet underground. There was nothing remarkable in them except the vases, for they were neither spacious nor decorated, nor finished with splendid ornaments like the tombs of Corneto and of Magna Graecia. Some had seats for holding the objects deposited with the dead; others pegs for hanging the vases on the walls. The wonder was to find such fine specimens of art in tombs so homely. These vases were of all styles and epochs from early Corinthian of about the seventh century to the Decadence. Besides these, an immense number of vases painted black only, without any subject, and others of the black _bucchero_ ware, were discovered in the various tombs, along with bronzes, ivories, and other objects peculiarly Etruscan.[253]

This vast discovery naturally attracted the attention of Europe. Notwithstanding the obvious fact of their possessing Greek inscriptions, and the light thrown upon them by the researches of Winckelmann, Lanzi, and other enlightened scholars, the Italian antiquaries, fired with a mistaken patriotism, insisted on claiming all the vases as Etruscan fabrics. The history of this error, long since discredited, is briefly summarised in the Introductory chapter.[254]

* * * * *

Turning now to Southern Italy, _Latium_ need not detain us long. It is true that Greek vases have from time to time been found at Rome, or at any rate fragments, as in the recent excavations in the Forum[255]; but few of these are of importance except as historical data. When Rome is given as the provenance of a vase, it probably implies nothing more than that it has been acquired from some dealer in that city. At Civita Lavinia Lord Savile found some fragments of painted pottery of different periods. Alba Longa is famous as the site whence the hut-urns, elsewhere discussed, have been obtained; but on the whole Rome and the cities of Latium seem to be quite barren in regard to finds of pottery. With the three main divisions of the southern half of Italy the case is quite different. It is true that there has been no Vulci in these districts, and indeed that no scientific excavations have taken place compared with those in Etruria; yet the yield of vases from these parts is extraordinarily large. In the eighteenth century the neighbourhood of Naples, Paestum, etc., was a favourite hunting-ground with dilettanti, such as Sir William Hamilton, who appear to have acquired their large collections chiefly from Campanian tombs; but unfortunately they have left no record of the sites on which these vases were found. In the Samnite district and north of the Apennines pottery-finds are almost unknown; while the barbaric regions of Bruttii and Calabria are only represented by a few late painted vases of the rudest local fabrics.

It may be noted that as a general rule the Greek colonies on the coast, which maintained from the earliest times a constant intercourse with Greece, have yielded from their tombs a fair proportion of the older Greek fabrics, whereas the inland cities are more remarkable for their remains of the later Athenian and local wares, being of more recent origin.

Beginning with Campania, we take first the famous colony of _Cumae_, the most ancient in Magna Graecia, which was founded by the Chalcidians of Kyme in Aeolis at an unknown date, but not later than the eighth century. Vases of all periods have been found here, though not in great numbers. The earliest belong to the infancy of the colony, and include the famous lekythos of Tataie found in 1843, and now in the British Museum.[256] It bears an inscription in the Chalcidian alphabet. But the majority of the finds belong to the period when there appears to have been a flourishing local fabric, about the third century B.C. They are the most typical representatives of the Campanian style, and may be studied to best advantage in the Raccolta Cumana of the Naples Museum, where they are collected together.[257] Many of these were found in 1842. Cumae was famous for its pottery even in Roman times,[258] and specimens of Roman ware with reliefs have been found here, as also at the neighbouring Puteoli (Chapter XXII.)

Next in importance for the history of local fabrics are the vases found at _S. Agata dei Goti_, the ancient Saticula, which can also claim a manufacture of its own.[259] They are for the most part bell-shaped kraters, and were chiefly excavated at the end of the eighteenth century. Signed vases by the Paestum masters Assteas and Python (see below) came from this site. The vases of _Abella_ form another class of Campanian ware, but of a degenerate and late type, mostly hydriae of very pale clay. Other sites which have yielded Campanian vases are: Naples (Neapolis), Telese, Teano, Acerra, Sessa, and Nuceria Alfaterna (Nocera).[260]

_Capua_, on the other hand, does not appear to have had any special fabric of its own, although the finds of all periods are as numerous as from any site in Southern Italy except Ruvo and Nola. Among the earlier specimens may be mentioned the inscribed Corinthian krater in the British Museum (B 37) from the Hamilton collection (Plate XXI.). The red-figured vases include cups signed by Euergides, Epiktetos, and Pistoxenos. The vases of the Decadence have, as indicated, no distinctive features of their own. Most of the late red-figured vases of fancy shapes (such as rhyta) in the British Museum are from this site, whence they passed into the hands of Castellani. The black vases with gilded ornamentation, of which the British Museum possesses some fine specimens, are also characteristic of Capua. A large number of the vases obtained by Sir William Temple are from this site, as is also one of the later Panathenaic amphorae.[261]

At _Calvi_ (Cales) Greek painted vases are almost unrepresented,[262] but this site is distinguished as the origin of two late varieties of fictile ware. One is formed by the Calene phialae (p. 502), or bowls of black ware with interior designs in relief, sometimes signed with the names of local potters; the other consists of large vases highly ornamented with terracotta figurines attached in different places, or else modelled in the form of female figures or heads. Strictly speaking, the latter must be classed under the heading of terracottas (see p. 119).

Lastly, we have to speak of _Nola_, which, like Capua, was always a city of considerable importance, and is represented by a large series of vases of all periods.[263] Here again we can detect no signs of a special local fabric, though for a long time the so-called “Nolan” amphorae of the red-figured period were thought to have been made on the spot, so frequently have they been found. The name is still retained as convenient for describing this particular form of amphora (see p. 162), with its exquisite black varnish, graceful outlines, and simple yet effective decoration; but it is, of course, quite conventional. The vases are purely Attic (some are signed by Athenian artists), and it can only be supposed that they found especial favour in the Nolan market. Corinthian and Attic black-figured vases occur in large numbers, and both here and at Capua there seems to have been a tendency to imitate the exported Athenian wares. Thus we find not only vases with black figures on buff ground on which the drawing is obviously free and developed, but also imitations of the “Nolan” amphorae, both classes dating from about the fourth century B.C.

At _Sorrento_ and the neighbouring Vico Equense a few vases of different periods have been found, including a fine R.F. krater signed by Polygnotos, which was discovered in 1893, and is now in the British Museum.[264] Salerno is also mentioned as a site where Greek vases have come to light.

The famous city of _Paestum_ lay actually within the borders of Lucania, but all its relations were with Campania, and it may practically be regarded as a Campanian city. Little has been found here except local fourth- and third-century fabrics, but these are for the most part so remarkable that they have established the existence of a school of vase-painting at Paestum quite distinct from and earlier than the fabrics of the three districts of Southern Italy.[265] Nearly all the vases found here (including three signed by the master Assteas) have the distinguishing characteristics of this class. They are mostly to be seen in the Naples Museum; a fuller account of them is given in