CHAPTER V

_TECHNICAL PROCESSES_

Nature of clay—Places whence obtained—Hand-made vases—Invention of potter’s wheel—Methods of modelling—Moulded vases and relief-decoration—Baking—Potteries and furnaces—Painted vases and their classification—Black varnish—Methods of painting—Instruments and colours employed—Status of potters in antiquity.

In this chapter we propose to deal with the various technical processes required for the manufacture of painted vases, that being of all the methods of working in clay employed by the Greeks the most important, and thus, as already implied, forming the main branch of our subject. These vases show, in fact, the highest point of perfection to which the ceramic art attained.

In the making of Greek vases we can distinguish four separate stages: (1) Preparation of the clay; (2) Modelling (_a_) on the wheel, (_b_) by hand, or (_c_) from a mould; (3) Baking; (4) Painting, glazing, and other decoration. The last-named is not absolutely essential, _i.e._ a vase, especially one for ordinary daily use, may be considered complete without it. Further, the three first stages are practically the same at all periods of Greek art, whereas the systems of painting and decoration are subject to local variations and chronological development. For the purposes of the present chapter it is sufficient to consider only those vases which have undergone the complete process of manufacture, or what are known for the purposes of study as “Painted Greek Vases.”

1. PREPARATION OF THE CLAY

The paste of these vases is similar to terracotta in its general characteristics, such as the constitution of the mixture of which it is composed; it is in general very delicate, but deeper in tone and finer in texture than that of the terracottas. Brongniart has described it as “tender, easily scratched or cut with a knife, remarkably fine and homogeneous, but of loose texture”[739]; but it would be more accurate to say that it varies in one respect, being sometimes so hard that cutting or scratching has no effect upon it. When broken it exhibits a dull opaque colour, varying from red to yellow and yellow to grey. On being struck it gives forth a dull metallic sound; it is exceedingly porous, and easily allows water to ooze through.

The surface was protected by a fine, thin alkaline glaze, which is semi-transparent, enhancing the colours with which the vase was painted, like the varnish of a picture. It is this glaze which forms the special distinction of the Greek painted vases and renders them, in contradistinction to common pottery or earthenware, the counterpart of the medieval faïences or majolicas, or the finer porcelain of the present day.

As to the chemical composition of the paste, it would seem that hitherto investigations have been confined to vases of Italian origin, but probably those found on Greek soil would yield similar results. The principal ingredients are clay, silicic acid, and iron oxide, with slight admixtures of carbonate of lime and magnesia. The principal results of previous investigations have been tabulated by Blümner,[740] and yield the following average result (chiefly from analyses of vases from Southern Italy):—

Silicic acid 52 to 60 parts. Clay earth 13 to 19 parts. Chalk 5 to 10 parts. Magnesia 1 to 3 parts. Iron oxide 12 to 19 parts.

The largest proportion of clay found in any one vase was 27 parts; there was also one instance given of 24 parts of iron oxide.

The variations in tone of the clay of Greek vases are very marked. The usual colour is an ochre varying from yellowish-white to brownish-red, the mean being a sort of orange. These variations were apparently regulated by the amount of iron oxide employed. It has been noted by Jahn[741] that vases were sometimes moulded “double,” _i.e._ turned on the wheel in two different thicknesses of clay, the finer and ruddier forming the exterior surface for decoration.

The earliest and most primitive Greek vases (including those of the Mycenaean period) in most cases exhibit the natural quality of the clay, ranging from yellow to grey in colour; it is usually coarse and insufficiently baked, and protected by no lustrous glaze. In the early archaic vases, such as those of Melos, Athens, and Rhodes, we observe a pale yellow tone, which is apparently not a glaze, but inherent in the clay.[742] Thenceforward the clay becomes appreciably redder and warmer in tone until the lustrous glaze reaches its perfection in the Attic vases of the fifth century. In the later Italian fabrics again there is a great degeneration, the clay rapidly reverting to a paler hue, especially in the vases of Campania; while in the Etruscan imitations of the third century it is a dull coarse yellow, apparently due to a preponderance of lime. Generally speaking, it may be said that the colour depends on the proportion in which the constituent parts are mixed, a larger proportion of iron oxide producing a redder, a larger proportion of lime a paler hue.

The clay is permeable, allowing water to exude when not glazed, and when moistened emits a strong earthy smell. It is not known how this paste was prepared, for the Greeks have left few or no details of their processes, but it has been conjectured that the clay was fined by pouring it into a series of vats, and constantly decanting the water, so that the last vat held only the finest particles in suspension. The clay was worked up to the right consistency with the hands, and is supposed to have been ground in a mill or trodden out with the feet. Either red or white clay, or a mixture of the two, was preferred by the ancients, according to the nature of the pottery required to be made, as we learn from an interesting passage in the _Geoponica_:—“All kinds of earth are not suited for pottery, but some prefer the reddish variety, others the white; others again blend the two ... but the potter ought personally to assist in the operations and see that the clay is well levigated and not placed on the wheel until he has obtained a clear idea of the probable appearance of the jar after the baking” (vi. 3).

Certain sites enjoyed in antiquity great reputation for their clays. One of the most celebrated was that procured from a mine near the promontory of Cape Kolias,[743] close to Phaleron, from which was produced the paste which gave so much renown to the products of the Athenian Kerameikos. The vases made of it became so fashionable, that Plutarch[744] relates an anecdote of a person who, having swallowed poison, refused to drink the antidote except out of a vessel made of this clay. It seems to have been of a fine quality, but not remarkably warm in tone when submitted to the furnace; ruddle, or red ochre (_rubrica_), being employed to impart to it that rich deep orange glow which distinguishes the finest vases of the best period.[745] Corinth,[746] Knidos, Samos, and various other places famous for their potteries, were provided with fine clays. At Koptos, in Egypt, and in Rhodes, vases were manufactured of an aromatic earth.[747] The extreme lightness of the paste of these vases was remarked by the ancients, and its tenuity is mentioned by Plutarch.[748] That it was an object of ambition to excel in this respect, appears from the two amphorae mentioned by Pliny as preserved in the temple of Erythrae,[749] of extreme lightness and thinness, made by a potter and his pupil when contending which could produce the lightest vase. The thinnest vases which have come down to us are scarcely thicker than pieces of stout paper. Great difference is to be observed in the pastes of vases from widely-separated localities, due either to the composition or to the baking, as has been noted in the case of the terracottas (p. 113).

2. MANUFACTURE OF VASES

The earliest glazed vases were made with the hand, but the wheel was an invention of very remote antiquity, as has been noted in our Introductory Chapter. It is generally supposed that its origin is to be attributed to Egypt. Its introduction into Greece may easily be traced by a study of primitive pottery from any site such as Crete, Cyprus, or Troy, where the distinction between hand-made and wheel-made vessels is clear. Thus in the tombs of Cyprus which belong to the Bronze Age, the earlier finds, dating from about 2500–1500 B.C., are exclusively of hand-made pottery.[750] The latter part of the Bronze Age may be regarded as a transitional period, in which the tombs contain hand-made unglazed painted vases, together with pottery of a much more developed character, with a lustrous yellow glaze, bearing unmistakable evidence of having been turned on a wheel. This pottery appears to be largely imported, as opposed to the local wares, which are still hand-made, and its widespread distribution over the whole of the “Aegean” area marks an important epoch in the history of early ceramics (see Chapter VI.). It covers the period from 1500 to about 900 B.C., and it is to this time that we may attribute the general use of the potter’s wheel in Greece, although it was known even earlier, as some isolated specimens prove.

Among the Greeks there were many contending claims for the honour of having invented the potter’s wheel. Tradition attributed it to various personages, such as Daedalos,[751] or his nephew and rival Talos[752]; Hyperbios of Corinth[753]; Koroibos of Athens; and Anacharsis the Scythian.[754] Kritias, the comic poet, claimed the invention for Athens—“that city which ... invented pottery, the famous offspring of the wheel, of earth, and of fire.”[755] There is also a familiar allusion to it in Homer,[756] which is a fair testimony to its antiquity:—

“Full lightly, as when some potter sitteth and maketh assay Of the wheel to his hands well-fitted, to know if it runneth true.”

As regards the traditions, even Strabo[757] realised their absurdity, when he asked, “How could the wheel be the invention of Anacharsis, when his predecessor Homer knew of it?” On the other hand, Poseidonios adheres to the tradition, maintaining that the passage in Homer is an interpolation.[758] Other allusions to the wheel are in the writings of Plato[759] and the comic poet Antiphanes.[760]

Among the Egyptians and Greeks the wheel took the form of a low circular table, turned with the hand, not as nowadays with the foot.[761] The assumption that the wheel was turned with the foot is only supported by one passage in the Book of Ecclesiasticus[762]; the evidence of Plutarch[763] and Hippokrates[764] tells decidedly against it. In 1840 some discs of terracotta, strengthened with spokes and a leaden tire, came to light on the site of the ancient potteries at Arezzo, and these had evidently been used as potter’s wheels.[765] The process is also represented on two or three vases, as on a Corinthian painted tablet of about 600 B.C. (Fig. 65),[766] on a kylix in the British Museum (B 433), on a B.F. hydria in Munich (Fig. 67 _b_, below), and on a R.F. fragment from the Acropolis of Athens (Fig. 66),[767] which shows a man modelling the foot of a large krater, while a boy or slave turns the wheel, as on the Munich vase. On the British Museum cup the potter is seated on a low stool, apparently modelling a vase which he has just turned into shape on the wheel.

In making the vases the wheel was used in the following manner:—A piece of paste of the required size was placed upon it vertically in the centre, and while it revolved was formed with the finger and thumb, the potter paying regard not only to the production of the right shape, but to the necessary thickness of the walls. This process sufficed for the smaller pieces, such as cups or jugs; the larger amphorae and hydriae required the introduction of the arm. The feet, necks, mouths, and handles were separately turned on moulds, and fixed on while the clay was moist. They are often modelled with great beauty and precision, especially the feet, which are admirably finished off, to effect which the vase must have been inverted. The modelling and separate attachment of the handle is represented in more than one ancient work of art (see Fig. 66). In many cases the joining of the handles is so excellent that it is easier to break than to detach them. Great technical skill was displayed in turning certain peculiar forms of vases, and generally speaking the Greeks with their simple wheel effected wonders, producing shapes still unrivalled for beauty.

In the case of the earlier vases, which are made by hand, after the clay was properly kneaded the potter took up a mass of the paste, and hollowing it into the shape of walls with one hand, placed the other inside it and pressed it out into the required form. In this way also the thickness of the walls could be regulated. When raised or incised ornaments were required, he used modeller’s tools, such as wooden or bronze chisels. The largest and coarsest vases of the Greeks were made with the hand, and the large πίθοι, or casks, such as have been recently found in such numbers in Crete and Thera (p. 152), were modelled by the aid of a kind of hooped mould (κάνναβος): see _ibid._). The smaller and finer vases, however, were invariably turned on the wheel. On a Graeco-Roman lamp from Pozzuoli, in the British Museum,[768] a potter is seen standing and modelling a vase before his furnace, in the manner no doubt employed at all periods.

Certain parts of the ancient painted vases were modelled by the potter from the earliest times—_e.g._ on those of the Geometrical period horses are occasionally found on the covers of the flat dishes moulded in full relief, and in other examples the handle is enriched with the moulded figure of a serpent twining round it. This kind of ornament is more suitable to works in metal than in clay, and suggests the idea that such vases were, in fact, imitations of metallic ones. On vases of all periods moulded bosses and heads, like the reliefs on metal vases, are sometimes found; even in black-figured vases the insertions of the handles of hydriae and oinochoae are occasionally thus enriched. In the later styles modelling was more profusely employed; small projecting heads were affixed to the handles of jugs[769] at their tops and bases, and on the large kraters found in Apulia the discs in which the handles terminated (see above, p. 171) were ornamented with heads of the Gorgon Medusa, or with such subjects as Satyrs and Maenads. These portions were sometimes covered with the black varnish used for the body of the vase, but frequently they were painted with white and red colours of the opaque kind.

A peculiar kind of modelling was used for the gilded portions of reliefs, introduced over the black varnish. When the vase was baked a fine clay was applied to the parts intended for gilding and delicately modelled, either with a small tool or a brush, a process similar to that adopted in the Roman red ware (_en barbotine_, see Chapter XXI.). It may indeed have been squeezed in a fluid state through a tube upon the vase, and then modelled. As the gilded-portions are generally small, this process was not difficult or important. A vase discovered at Cumae[770] has two friezes executed in this style, the upper round the neck, representing the Eleusinian deities, delicately modelled, coloured, and with the flesh completely gilded; the lower one consists of a band of animals and arabesque ornaments. Several vases from the same locality, from Capua and from the Cyrenaica, have wreaths of corn, ivy, or myrtle, and necklaces round the neck, modelled in the same style, while the rest is plain.

But the art of modelling was soon extensively superseded by that of _moulding_, or producing several impressions from a mould, generally itself of terracotta. The subject was in the first place modelled in relief with considerable care; and from this model a cast in clay was taken and then baked. The potter availed himself of moulds for various purposes. From them he produced entire parts of his vase in full relief, such as the handles, and possibly in some instances the feet. He also stamped out certain ornaments in relief, much in the same manner as the ornaments of cakes are prepared, and fixed them while moist to the still damp body of the vase. Such ornaments were principally placed upon the lips or at the base of the handles, and in the interior of the _kylikes_ or cups of a late style. A late bowl of black glazed ware in the British Museum (see Plate XLVIII.) contains an impression from one of the later Syracusan decadrachms having for its subject the head of Persephone surrounded by dolphins: it was struck about 370 B.C. by Euainetos.[771]

The last method to be described is that of producing the entire vase from a mould by stamping it out, a process extensively adopted in Roman pottery. During the best period of the fictile art, while painting flourished, such vases were very rare; but on the introduction of a taste for magnificent vases of chased metal, the potters endeavoured to meet the public taste by imitating the reliefs of metal ware.

The most remarkable of these moulded vases are the _rhyta_ or drinking-horns, the bodies of which terminate in the heads of animals, produced from a mould (see above, p. 192). By the same process were also made vases in the form of jugs or lekythi, the bodies of which are moulded in the shape of human heads, and sometimes glazed, while the necks were fashioned on the lathe, and the handles added. These were coloured and ornamented on the same principle as the rhyta, the vase-portion being generally covered with a black glaze, but sometimes with a white slip, after the manner of the terracottas. Besides the rhyta, _phialae_, or saucers, were also moulded; fine examples of which process may be seen on the flat bossed saucers, or _phialae mesomphaloi_, discussed in Chapter XI., p. 502.

Amphorae and other vases of late black ware, the bodies of which are reeded, were also evidently produced from moulds, and could not be made by the expensive process of modelling. Of smaller dimensions, but also made by moulding, were the vases known as _gutti_, or “lamp-feeders” (see above, p. 200). They have reeded bodies, long-necked mouths, and circular handles; and on their upper surface a small circular medallion in bas-relief, with a mythological subject. Such vases are principally found in Southern Italy and in Sicily, and belong to the second century B.C. (Chapter XI., p. 502). After being moulded they were entirely covered with a black glaze. Other vases again are entirely moulded in human or animal forms, with a small mouth or spout. These are found at all periods, but chiefly in the archaic Rhodian and Corinthian fabrics, and again reviving in the later stages of vase-fabrics in Southern Italy. Examples may be seen in the First Vase Room (Cases 33–34 and F) and Fourth Vase Room (Case B) of the British Museum: see also Plate XLVI. Others again retain the form of the jug or _lekythos_, with a figure or relief attached to the front of the body and coloured or covered with a white slip, while the back is varnished black. The whole subject is treated in fuller detail in Chapter XI.

Many vases of the fourth century and later are entirely covered with a coating of black glaze, while rows of small stamped ornaments, apparently made with a metal punch, have been impressed on the wet clay before the glaze was applied. These decorations are unimportant in their subjects, which are generally small Gorgons’ heads, tendrils, or palmettes, and hatched bands, arranged round the axis of the vase. This latter ornament was probably produced by rolling the edge of a disc notched for the purpose round the vase, in the same manner as a bookbinder uses his brass punch. When these vases came into use the potter’s trade had ceased to be artistic, and was essentially mechanical. They are found on almost all sites from Cyprus to Italy.[772]

* * * * *

After the vases had been made on the wheel they were duly dried in the sun[773] and lightly baked, after which they were ready for varnishing and painting; it is evident that they could not be painted while wet and soft. Moreover the glaze ran best on a surface already baked. It is also probable that the glaze was brought out by a process of polishing, the surface of the clay being smoothed by means of a small piece of wood or hard leather. At all events this seems the most satisfactory interpretation of a vase-painting in Berlin (Fig. 67_a_),[774] where a boy is seen applying a tool of some kind to the outer surface of a completed vase (_kotyle_); that the vase is not yet varnished is shown by its being left in a red colour, while two others, varnished black all over, stand on the steps of an oven close by, probably to dry after the application of the varnish.

Many vases, whether decorated with designs or not, are varnished black throughout the exterior, except the feet and lips, and we cannot be certain whether or not any glaze had been previously applied to the surface; but in respect of the red-figured vases, it is clear from the method employed (see p. 221) that they were originally glazed throughout.

This lustrous glaze is, like the black varnish, now quite a lost art. Seen under a microscope it has evidently been fused by baking; it yields neither to acids nor the blow-pipe. It is remarkably fine and thin, insomuch that it can only be analysed with great difficulty. No lead entered into its composition. It is however far inferior to modern glazes, being permeable by water; but it is not decomposed by the same chemical agents. On the later R.F. vases it is of decidedly inferior quality, and often scales away, carrying the superimposed colours with it.[775]

3. THE BAKING OF VASES

The process of baking (ὀπτᾶν, _coquere_) was regarded as one of the most critical in the potter’s art. It was not indeed universal, as Plato[776] distinguishes between vases which have or have not been exposed to the action of fire (ἔμπυρα and ἄπυρα), and Pliny[777] speaks of _fictile crudum_ (ὠμόν) used for medicinal purposes. But all the vases that have come down to us have certainly been baked. The necessary amount of heat required was regulated by the character of the ware, and in the case of most Greek fabrics it appears to have been high. Many examples exist of discoloured vases which have been subjected to too much or too little heat, and in which the varnish has acquired a greenish or reddish hue. On the other hand, in some of those that have been subjected to subsequent burning, the red glaze has turned to an ashen-grey colour,[778] the black remaining unimpaired; but there are also instances of the varnish peeling off, the red colour alone preserving the outline of the figures.

Other accidents were liable to befall them in the baking, such as the cracking of the vase under too great heat; this produced an effect expressed by the term πυρορραγής or φοξός, words which seem to have some reference to the _sound_ of a cracked pot.[779] Or the shape of a vase might be damaged while it was yet soft, one knocking against another and denting its side, or crushing the lip through being carelessly superimposed. On a R.F. amphora in the British Museum (E 295) a dent has been caused by the pressure of another vase, which has left traces of a band of maeanders. This probably happened when the vases were in the kiln for the second firing. The quality of the baking was tested by tapping the walls of the vase.[780]

These misfortunes were attributed to the action of malicious demons, whose influence had to be counteracted in various ways; thus, for instance, a Satyric or grotesque head was placed in front of the furnace and was supposed to have an apotropaeic effect against the evil eye.[781] The pseudo-Homeric hymn addressed to the potters of Samos invokes the protection of Athena for the vases in the furnace, and mentions the evil spirits which are ready to injure them in the case of bad faith on the potter’s part. Among the names given are: Ἄσβεστος, “the Unquenchable”; Σμάραγος, “the Crasher”; Σύντριψ, “the Smasher”; Ὠμόδαμος, “the Savage Conqueror.”

The form of the oven probably differed little from those in use at the present day. No furnaces have been found in Greece, and our only evidence is derived from the painted vases; but they have been found at Ruvo[782] and elsewhere in Italy, and also in France, Germany, and England. Those of Roman date are indeed by no means uncommon, but are discussed in fuller detail in the corresponding section of the work (Chapter XXI.).

As depicted on vases and elsewhere, the ancient furnaces seem to have been of simple construction, tall conical ovens fed by fires from beneath, into which the vases were placed with a long shovel resembling a baker’s peel. The kilns were heated with charcoal or wood fuel, and in some of the representations of them we see men holding long instruments with which they are about to poke or rake the fires (Fig. 68). They had two doors, one for the insertion of the vases and one for the potter to watch the progress of the baking. For vases of great size, like the huge πίθοι, special ovens must have been necessary; and we have a representation on a Corinthian pinax[783] of such an oven, the roof of which resembles the upper part of a large _pithos_ surrounded by flames.

On the lamp from Pozzuoli in the British Museum, referred to on p. 209, there is a curious subject in relief, representing a potter about to place a vase in an oven with a tall chimney; and on a hydria at Munich[784] (Fig. 67 _b_) a man is about to place an amphora in a kiln, while other jars (painted white) stand ready to be baked. But for our purposes the Corinthian pinakes are even more valuable for the information they afford. There are several representing the exterior of the conical furnace, with men standing by watching the fires and tending them with rakes[785]; in another we have a bird’s-eye view in horizontal section of the interior of an oven, filled with jugs of various forms (Fig. 69). Flames are usually indicated rising from underneath the ovens.[786]

The Munich hydria (Fig. 67_b_) reproduces the interior of a potter’s workshop with such detail that a full description of the scene may be permissible.[787] On the left of the picture a seated man seems to be examining an amphora, which has just been finished (it is painted black) and is brought up for his approval. Next is seen an amphora on the potter’s wheel, painted white to indicate its imperfect state; one man places his arm inside to shape the interior, while another turns the wheel for him. On their right another white amphora is being carried out, just fresh from the wheel, but without handles or mouth, to be dried in the open or at the furnace; next is another standing on the ground to dry. On the right of the scene stands the foreman or master of the pottery, before whom a nude man carries what has been thought to be a sack of coals for the furnace, which is seen on the extreme right.

Even more vivid and instructive, in spite of its careless execution, is the painting on a kotyle found at Exarchos or Abae in Lokris, and now in the Athens Museum (Fig. 70).[788] The style is that of the imitation B.F. vases found in the temple of the Kabeiri at Thebes, late in the fifth century. We see represented the interior of a potter’s workshop, in which the master of the business sits holding up a kylix in one hand, while with the other he threatens a slave, who runs off with three kotylae ready for the furnace; three similar kotylae stand by the master’s feet, and behind him are two more vases on a shelf. On the right of the scene a workman sits at a table on which is a pot full of paint, with a brush in it; he holds up a newly-painted kotyle, admiring his workmanship. The picture is completed by a realistic representation of an unfortunate slave suspended by cords to the ceiling as a punishment for some offence, while another belabours him with a leather thong.

It would appear that the vases after the baking were often placed on the exterior of the furnace, either to prevent the too rapid cooling of the clay, or (as indicated on the Berlin cup) for the pigments to dry. Jahn and others have published a gem[789] on which a small two-handled vase is placed on the top of an oven, and a youth is applying two sticks to it, perhaps in order to take it down without injury by the contact of the hand. A companion gem,[790] on which an artist is painting a similar jar, shows a jug and a kylix standing on a kiln.

When the vases were returned from the furnace, the potter appears to have made good as far as possible the defects of those not absolutely spoiled; and if naturally or by accident any parts remained too pale after the baking, the defect was remedied by rubbing them over with a deep red ochre, which supplied the necessary tone.

4. PAINTING

We may distinguish three principal classes of painted pottery, of which one at least admits of several subdivisions:—

(1) Primitive Greek vases, with simple painted ornaments, chiefly linear and geometrical, laid directly on the ground of the clay with the brush. The colour employed is usually a yellowish or brownish red, passing into black. The execution varies, but is often extremely coarse.

(2) Greek vases (and Italian imitations) painted with figures. These may be subdivided as follows:—

(_a_) Vases with figures in black varnish on red glazed ground (see Frontispiece, Vol. II.);

(_b_) Vases with figures left in the red glaze on a ground of black varnish (see Frontispiece, Vol. I.).

(3) (_a_) Vases of various dates with outline or polychrome decoration on white ground (see Plate XLIII.);

(_b_) Vases (also of various dates) with designs in opaque colour on black ground.

Of these, the second group is by far the largest and most important, and the complicated and technical processes which it involved will demand by far the greater share of our attention in the following account of the methods of painting. In both the classes (_a_) and (_b_) the colouring is almost confined to a contrasting of the red glazed ground of the clay with a black varnish-like pigment, a contrast which perhaps more than anything else furnishes the great charm of a Greek vase.

This black varnish is particularly lustrous and deep, but varies under different circumstances. Great difference of opinion has always existed as to its nature, and the method by which it was brought to such perfection by the Greeks. The variations in its appearance are due partly to differences of locality and fabric, partly to accidents of production. It is seen in its greatest perfection in the so-called Nolan amphorae of the severe red-figure period; and at its worst in the Etruscan and Italiote imitations of Greek fabrics. On the vases found at Vulci it shows a tendency to assume a greenish hue, as opposed to the blue-black of the Nolan vases, while variations in the direction of red, brown, and (on late South Italy fabrics) grey are of frequent occurrence. It is probable that these gradations of quality are mainly due to the action of fire, according as a higher or lower temperature was employed. On the other hand, the ashen-grey hue which vases of all periods sometimes assume[791] seems to be due to the direct action of fire in contact with them, and this may perhaps be explained by supposing that they had been burnt on a funeral pyre. This varnish also varies in the thickness with which it was laid on, as can be easily detected with the finger.

Although the chemical action of the earth sometimes causes the black varnish to disappear entirely, leaving only the figures faintly indicated on the red-clay ground, there has never yet been found any acid which has any effect upon it.[792] Various opinions have been promulgated, from Caylus downwards, as to the elements of which it is composed.[793] Brongniart[794] has analysed it with the following results:—

Silicic acid 46·30 50·00 Clay earth 11·90 Iron oxide 16·70 17·00 Chalk 5·70 Magnesia 2·30 Soda 17·10 Copper traces.

It is unnecessary here to enter in detail into the numerous other theories of its composition, but so far it cannot be said that any certainty has been attained.

Turning now to the methods by which the black varnish was applied, we find it necessary to distinguish between the two classes of black-figured and red-figured vases; some vases, of course, are completely covered with it, having no painted design, but these do not enter into the question.

In the black-figured vases the figures are painted in black silhouette on the red ground of the vase, the outlines being first roughly indicated by a pointed instrument making a faint line.[795] The surface within these outlines was then filled in with the black pigment by means of a brush, the details of anatomy, drapery, armour, etc., being subsequently brought out in part by further incising of lines with a pointed tool. In some of the finest vases, such as those of Amasis and Exekias (p. 381), the delicacy and minuteness of these lines is brought to an extraordinary pitch of perfection. After a second baking had taken place, the designs were further enriched by the application of opaque purple and white pigments, usually following certain conventional principles, the flesh of women and devices on shields, for instance, being always white, folds of drapery always purple. A third baking at a much lower heat was necessary to fix these colours, and the vase was then complete.

It should here be noted that there are really two subdivisions of these black-figured vases, which may be termed for convenience “red-bodied” and “black-bodied.”[796] In the former the whole vase stands out in the natural red colour of the clay; whereas in the latter the treatment approaches more nearly to the red-figure method which we shall presently discuss. The whole body of the vase is in these examples covered with the black varnish, with the exception of a framed panel of red, on which the figures are painted. This distinction may be well observed in the Second Vase Room of the British Museum, where most of the vases on the east side of the room belong to the former or “red-bodied” class, while all those on the west side are “black-bodied,” with designs in panels.

In the red-figured vases the black varnish is used as the background, and covers the whole vase, as in the “black-bodied” B.F. fabrics, the figures not being actually painted, but _left red_ in the colour of the clay. The process was as follows:—Before the varnish was applied the outlines of the figures were indicated, not by incised lines but by drawing a thick line of black with a brush round their contours. It is probable that a fine brush was used at first, especially for more delicate work, and then a broader brush producing a line about an eighth of an inch in thickness. The process, be it noted, is more akin to _drawing_ than painting; and it was as draughtsmen _par excellence_ that the red-figure artists excelled. The next stage was to mark the inner details by means of very fine black lines (corresponding to the incised lines of B.F. vases), or by masses of black for surfaces such as the hair; white and purple were also employed, but far more sparingly than on the earlier vases. In the late Athenian and South Italian vases a tendency to polychromy sprang up, but the main process always remained the same to the final decadence of the art. The figures being completed and protected from accidents by their broad black borders, the varnishing of the whole exterior surface was then proceeded with. This was of course a purely mechanical business. A fragment of a red-figured vase in the Sèvres Museum forms an excellent illustration of the method employed, as, although the figures are finished, the ground has never been filled in, and the original black border is plainly visible (Fig. 71).

The result of the second baking was to fix the varnish and cause it to permeate the surface of the clay in such a way as to become practically inseparable from it. The subsidiary colours, on the other hand, which were laid on over the black, are always liable to disappear or fade.

A very interesting representation of painters at work on their vases is to be seen on a hydria from Ruvo (Fig. 72).[797] Three painters are seated at work with their brushes, of whom two are being crowned by Victories, while the third is about to receive a wreath from Athena, the protecting goddess of the industry. Their paint-pots are to be seen by their side. At one end of the scene a woman is similarly occupied.

From _Blümner_.

In class 3 (_a_), or vases with figures on white ground, we have to deal with the process of covering the naturally pale clay with a white slip of more or less thick and creamy consistency, on which the designs were painted. In the archaic period this process is fairly common, especially in the earliest vases of Corinth and of Ionia, and at Kyrene and Naukratis. It was revived at Athens about the end of the sixth century (see pp. 385, 455). But when once the white slip was laid on, the technical process differed little from that in use on ordinary red-ground vases, except for the general avoidance of white as an accessory; it merely results that instead of a contrast of black and red, one of black and cream is obtained. The method was one also largely practised in early painting, as we see in the Corinthian pinakes and the sarcophagi of Clazomenae (pp. 316, 362).

But there is another class of white-ground vases to which we must devote more special attention, namely, those on which the figures are painted either in outline or with polychrome washes on the same white slip. The earliest instance of such a method is in the series of fragments found at Naukratis, dating from the beginning of the sixth century (see p. 348), which technically and artistically are of remarkably advanced character, and combine the two methods of painting in outline and in washes of colour. In the fifth century the practice was revived at Athens as a means of obtaining effective results with small vases, and became especially characteristic of one class, the funeral lekythi, which are elsewhere described (Chapter XI.). This, however, must serve as the most convenient place for a few remarks on their technique.

The vases, after they had left the wheel and were fitted with handle, etc., were covered with a coating of white flaky pigment, in consistency resembling liquid plaster of Paris, or, when dry, pipeclay. They received this coat of white while still on the wheel, and then a second coating, of the usual black varnish, was applied to such parts as were not required for decoration. Usually the white covered the cylindrical part of the body, and the shoulder up to the neck; black was applied to the mouth, neck, handle, base of body, and stem. The clay, it should be noted, is of the ordinary kind, but two varieties have been distinguished, one of pale red, for light thin vases, the other of a blackish-grey, for thicker and heavier ware. The natural colour appears on the inside of the lip and foot. Before being removed from the wheel the vases were finely polished, which gave to the white coating a sort of lustrous sheen; they were then fired at a low temperature.

The method of decoration[798] was usually as follows:—A preliminary sketch was made with fine grey lines, ignoring draperies (hence the lines of figures are usually visible _through_ the draperies), but not always necessarily followed when the colours were laid on. This was done as soon as the first lines were dry, the colour being applied with a fine brush and in monochrome—black, yellow, or red—following the lines of the sketch more or less closely. In the later examples red was used exclusively, and at all periods at Athens; but in the vases attributed to Locri and Sicily, a black turning to yellow is used. This combination of black and yellow is also used on the best Attic vases for various details, such as eyes and hair. The outlines also served to indicate the folds of the draperies. For the surfaces of drapery and other details, polychrome washes were employed, the colour being spread uniformly by means of a large brush. All varieties of red from rose to brown are found, also violet, light and brownish yellow, blue, black, and green. Hair is sometimes treated in outline, sometimes by means of washes. It is noteworthy that in the later examples the wash-colours were often painted right over the red lines. On the bodies of the figures these washes are rare, but in some cases shades of brown are used for flesh colour, as on the figure of Hypnos on a lekythos in the British Museum (D 58).

At Athens this polychrome decoration was not indeed limited to the lekythi, but was extended to the kylix, the pyxis, and other forms, of which some beautiful examples exist in the British Museum and at Athens.[799] In these, as in the best of the lekythi, the drawing of Greek artists seems almost to have reached perfection, and arouses our wonder yet more when we reflect that everything was done merely by freehand strokes of the brush. This technique is practically limited to the period 480–350 B.C.

The subsidiary ornamentation of the lekythi was put on either after the main design or before, this being immaterial. The lines above the design can be seen to have been painted on the wheel, as they go all round the vase; but the palmettes on the shoulder and maeander patterns above the design do not extend beyond it. After the colouring the vases appear to have been fired again, and in some cases the white slip was probably varnished. The details of their manufacture show that the lekythi were not intended for daily use; the shape is awkward for handling—the handles, for instance, are obviously not intended for practical use—and the delicate, lightly baked slip made them too porous for liquids. Everything tends in the direction of elegance and delicacy.

Our next sub-division consists of vases, chiefly of late date, in which the decoration is by means of opaque colours laid on the surface of a vase altogether coated with black varnish or glaze. The process is not indeed one absolutely unknown in earlier times, for there is the primitive Kamaraes ware of Crete (p. 266), and also a small series of archaic vases belonging to the early part of the fifth century (p. 393) in which this principle is adhered to, the designs being painted in opaque red or white on the black varnish. The latter seem to show a development from the black-figure period, to the end of which they belong, and may have been intended to rival the new red-figure method, but failed to attain popularity.

We next meet with the process in Southern Italy, where it again appears as the last effort of a worn-out fashion to flicker into life with renewed popularity. The centre of this revival, which follows on after the Apulian vases of the third century, was Gnatia (Fasano), on the coast of that district. The vases are partly modelled in relief, or have ornaments in relief attached; the decoration, in white and purple, is confined to one side only, and is very feeble and limited in its scope. An apparently local variety, perhaps made in Campania by native craftsmen, has the figures in opaque red, with details marked by rudely incised lines.

The Gnatia style was adopted by the Romans in the second century for a small series of vases inscribed with names of Italian deities, such as Juno and Vesta (p. 490), and it appears in the method of decoration known as _en barbotine_ on the pottery of the Empire (see Chapters XXI., XXIII.).

The instruments which were employed for the painting of the vases were not, as formerly supposed, limited to a metal or reed pen, and a camel’s-hair brush. It has been recently pointed out in a most illuminating article by Dr. Hartwig[800] that the lines of black bordering the figures on red-figured vases are usually double, the space in between being filled in with varnish thus: [ornament]. Practical experiments have shown that this can be obtained with a _feather brush_ or pen, drawing the lines separately, not concurrently, as might be done with a metal pen.[801] The feathers of the snipe were specially suitable for this purpose, as were also those of the swallow. It is probable that we see the use of the ordinary brush on the Ruvo vase-painting already mentioned, but this was no doubt used for filling in the ground and all parts where the colour was laid on in large masses. Again, on a fragment from the Athenian Acropolis (Fig. 73)[802] a man is seen covering the inside of a B.F. kylix with black varnish while he turns it on the wheel; this is also done with an ordinary brush. But there is a R.F. kylix,[803] on the interior of which we see the undoubted use of the feather-brush or pen (Fig. 74). In his left hand the painter seems to hold the sharp tool for engraving the outlines of the figures, and with his right he manipulates the feather-pen which is seen to consist of a small feather inserted in a wooden holder.

It is not likely that this instrument was generally used before the introduction of the R.F. style; it would hardly have been required either for the silhouette figures of the B.F. vases or the outlines on the white ground. According to Hartwig, Andokides, one of the earliest R.F. artists (about 520 B.C.) was making experiments in the use of the feather-pen, and in the course of twenty years, in the vases of Epiktetos and his school, its use had become general. It is not indeed unknown on B.F. vases, and can be traced in the ornamentation where fine lines were required, as on the Amasis vase in the Bibliothèque Nationale.[804] It was probably first used in the more developed Ionic pottery, but as we have seen had no chance of becoming generally used until the essentially linear R.F. style came into vogue. The artists who reached the height of skill in its use were Meidias and the painters of the delicate little vases of the latter half of the fifth century, this instrument being also admirably adapted for making the fine inner lines in which the painters of that period achieved such success.

Besides the painting-brush and the feather-pen, the other instruments used in the decoration of vases include the pointed graving-tools employed for incised lines, modelling-tools for the parts in relief, a stick for steadying the hand while at work, and a pair of compasses. The latter were employed for marking circles, as may be clearly seen on shields on the B.F. vases, where the mark left by the central point of the compasses is often visible.

The difficulties in the painting of Greek vases must have been numerous. In the first place, it was necessary for the artist to finish his sketch with great rapidity, since the clay rapidly absorbed the colouring matter, and the outlines were required to be bold and continuous, any joins producing a bad effect. Again, the vases were often painted while in an upright position, and the artist was obliged to stoop, rise, and execute his work in these difficult attitudes; nor could he remove the pencil from any figure which he had once begun. The eye must have been his only guide. Then, as he was obliged to draw his outline upon a damp surface, the black colour which he used was instantly confounded with the tint of the clay. The lines grew broad at first, and afterwards contracted themselves, leaving but a light trace, so that the artist could with difficulty discern what he had been doing. Moreover, the lines, once begun, could not be left off except where they met other lines which cut or terminated them. Thus, for example, the profile of a head must have been executed with a single continuous line, which could not be interrupted till it met the neck; and in drawing a thigh or leg, the whole outline must have been finished without taking off the pencil: proceeding from the top downwards, making use of the point to mark the horizontal lines, and afterwards rising upwards to finish the opposite side. The drawing was done entirely by the hand and no pattern used.

The outlines round the figures on R.F. vases were drawn strongly, in the manner described above, to prevent the background encroaching on the figure. That this was done while the clay was moist appears by the outlines uniting, which could not have taken place if the clay had been dry. It was so difficult to fill in the outlines without alteration, that they were frequently changed, and sometimes the ground was not reached, while at others it exceeded the line.

The ancient artists, notwithstanding these difficulties, observed all the laws of balance and proportion, especially ἰσομετρία, or the law of equal height of all figures; conveyed expression by means of attitude; and, by the use of profile, and the introduction of accessories, or small objects, into the background, contrived to compensate for the want of perspective.

This latter deficiency was due to the use of flat colours, which did not allow of shades, and the figures were consequently not seen in masses distinguished by light and shade, but isolated in the air. Hence, in order to make the figures distinct, and to express by attitude all the actions and sentiments required, the artist was compelled to use profile. The black colour, the choice of which may at first appear singular, is, after all, the most harmonious, and the best suited for showing the elegance and purity of the outline; whilst by its aptness to reveal any defects of shape, it compelled the artist to be very careful in his drawing.

The colours employed[805] were, as we have seen, remarkably few in number. Of the black varnish which plays such an important part, and of its composition we have already spoken. Of the opaque accessory colours, the white is said by Brongniart[806] to be a carbonate of lime or fine clay. It is evidently an earth of some kind, and gives no trace of lead under analysis. The creamy slip of the white-ground vases is of similar character, and appears to be a kind of pipeclay. It was probably of the same character as the earth of Melos used by Polygnotos.[807] The deep purple or crimson, so largely employed on the Corinthian and early Attic B.F. vases, is known to be an oxide of iron, an element which entered largely into the red glaze. The yellow found on the white vases and those of Apulia as an accessory to white is of an ochrous nature. The red used for outlines on the white lekythi is probably not vermilion (_minium_), but red ochre (μίλτος, _rubrica_). Blue and green, which are rarely found, and only on vases of the later styles, were produced from a basis of copper. On vases from the time of Euphronios and Brygos (about 480 B.C.) onwards, gilding was occasionally employed, the process being one which we have already described (see above, p. 210). Good instances of this process are to be seen in the fourth-century vases from Capua, which are glazed black throughout and ornamented solely with gilding.[808] But the gold leaf has often perished. Besides Capua, these vases are found chiefly in Athens and the Cyrenaica.

5. STATUS OF POTTERS

It now remains to say something respecting the makers of Greek vases—the potters of antiquity. Unfortunately, however, little is known of their condition, except that they formed a guild, or fraternity, and that they amassed considerable fortunes by exporting their products to the principal emporia of the ancient world. The existence of two _Kerameikoi_, or pottery districts, at Athens shows the great commercial importance of the manufacture. In later times there seems to have been a considerable tendency to division of labour among the potters, and each man “specialised” in some particular shape; hence we find them characterised as χυτρεύς and χυτροπλάθος,[809] ληκυθοποιός,[810] καδοποιός,[811] or κωθωνοποιός.[812] It is assumed that the word ἐποίησεν, “made,” when found on a vase, indicates the potter, and not the artist, although it is reasonable to suppose that when no artist’s name accompanies the formula the potter was at the same time the painter. On one vase the names of two potters, Glaukytes and Archikles, are found[813]; one has been supposed to be the artist’s, but it is more probable they were partners.

By the Athenians, potters were called _Prometheans_,[814] from the Titan Prometheus, who made man out of clay—which, according to one myth, was the blood of the Titans, or Giants—and was thus the founder of the fictile art. It was not, however, much esteemed, although without doubt the pursuit of it was a lucrative one, and many of the trade realised large fortunes; in proof of which may be cited the well-known anecdote of Agathokles,[815] who, at a time when the rich used plate, was in the habit of mixing earthenware with it at his table, telling his officers that he formerly made such ware, but that now, owing to his prudence and valour, he was served in gold—an anecdote which also suggests that the profession was not highly esteemed. The guild at Athens was called ἐκ κεραμέων, “of the potters,”[816] and we also hear of a college of κεραμεῖς at Thyateira.[817] However, the competition in the trade was so warm as to pass into a proverb, and the animosity of some of the rival potters is even recorded upon the vases.[818] To this spirit are also probably to be referred many of the tricks of the trade, such as imitations of the names of makers, and the numerous illegible inscriptions. When the potter’s establishment—called an _ergasterion_—was large, he employed under him a number of persons, some of whom were probably free but poor citizens, whilst others were slaves belonging to him.[819] How the labour was subdivided there are no means of accurately determining, but the following hands were probably employed:—(1) A potter, to make the vase on the wheel; (2) an artist, to trace with a point in outline the subject of the vase; (3) a painter, who executed the whole subject in outline, and who probably returned it to No. 2, when incised lines were required; (4) a modeller, who added such parts of the vase as were moulded; (5) a fireman, who took the vase to the furnace and brought it back; (6) a fireman for the furnace; (7) packers, to prepare the vases for exportation. Hence it may readily be conceived that a large establishment employed a considerable number of hands, and exhibited an animated scene of industrial activity.

Footnote 739:

_Traité_, i. p. 548.

Footnote 740:

_Technologie_, ii. p. 56.

Footnote 741:

_Die Malerei_, p. 176.

Footnote 742:

See Jahn, _Vasens. zu München_, p. cxliv; and Brunn-Lau, _Griech. Vasen_, p. 6.

Footnote 743:

Suidas, _s.v._; Athenaeus, xi. 482 B; Blümner, _Technol._ ii. p. 36.

Footnote 744:

_De recta audiendi rat._ 9, § 42 D.

Footnote 745:

Suidas, _s.v._ Κωλιάδος κεραμῆες; cf. Pliny, _H.N._ xxxv. 152.

Footnote 746:

For representations of quarrying for clay at Corinth see the pinakes at Berlin, _Ant. Denkm._ i. pl. 8, Nos. 7, 23.

Footnote 747:

Athen. xi. 464 B. C.

Footnote 748:

_Reg. et Imp. Apophth._ 174 E.

Footnote 749:

Pliny, _H.N._ xxxv. 161.

Footnote 750:

Myres in _Cyprus Mus. Cat._ p. 16.

Footnote 751:

Diod. Sic. iv. 76.

Footnote 752:

See Frazer, _Pausanias_, note to i. 21, 4.

Footnote 753:

Pliny, _H.N._ vii. 198; Schol. _ad_ Pind. _Ol._ xiii. 27.

Footnote 754:

Diog. Laert. i. 105; Suidas, _s.v._ Ἀνάχαρσις.

Footnote 755:

Athen. i. 28 C.

Footnote 756:

_Il._ xviii. 600.

Footnote 757:

vii. 303.

Footnote 758:

Seneca, _Ep._ 90, 31.

Footnote 759:

_Rep._ 420 E.

Footnote 760:

_Apud_ Athenaeum, x. 449 B.

Footnote 761:

See Blümner, _Technologie_, ii. p. 38, note 3.

Footnote 762:

xxxviii. 29: κεραμεὺς καθήμενος ... καὶ συστρέφων ἐν ποσὶν αὐτοῦ τροχόν.

Footnote 763:

_De gen. Socr._ 20, p. 588 F.

Footnote 764:

i. 645 K, quoted by Blümner.

Footnote 765:

Blümner, ii. p. 39; Jahn in _Ber. d. sächs. Gesellsch_. 1854, p. 40, note. See also Chapters XXI.-XXII.

Footnote 766:

_Ant. Denkm._ i. pl. 8, figs. 17, 18; cf. _Gaz. Arch._ 1880, p. 106.

Footnote 767:

_Ath. Mitth._ xiv. (1889), p. 157.

Footnote 768:

Blümner, _Technologie_, ii. p. 51.

Footnote 769:

As on the vases of Nikosthenes (see below, p. 385; B.M. B 619, 620; Louvre F 116, 117).

Footnote 770:

Reinach, _Répertoire_, i. 11 = Petersburg 525.

Footnote 771:

Evans, in _Num. Chron._ 3rd Ser. xi. p. 319 = _B.M. Cat._ iv. G 121, 122.

Footnote 772:

See for examples _B. M. Cat._ iv. G 87–95.

Footnote 773:

Cf. Aesop, _Fab._ 166 _a_, _b_.

Footnote 774:

_Cat._ 2542 = Blümner, _Technologie_, ii. p. 50.

Footnote 775:

Brongniart, _Traité_, i. p. 552.

Footnote 776:

_Legg._ iii. 679 A.

Footnote 777:

_H.N._ xxix. 34.

Footnote 778:

_E.g._ B.M. B 426, E 459.

Footnote 779:

Cf. Ar. _Ach._ 933: ψοφεῖ λάλον τι καὶ πυρορραγές. See also Suid. _s.v._ πυρορραγές; Pollux, vii. 164; _Etym. Magn._ p. 798, 17; and Schol. _in_ Hom. _Il._ ii. 219. I cannot but think that in the term φοξός, as applied to Thersites' head, there is some correspondence to our phrase “crack-brained.” Simonides (_apud_ Athen. xi. 480 D) speaks of a φοξίχειλος Ἀργείη κύλιξ, a term of disputed meaning; but a cup of which the brim (χεῖλος) would suggest the shape of a peaked head is hardly conceivable; and here again there must surely be some notion of sound.

Footnote 780:

See Blümner, _op. cit._ ii. p. 46.

Footnote 781:

See Fig. 67 _b_; Berlin 2294; Furtwaengler, in _Jahrbuch_, vi. (1891), p. 110, points out that these heads probably represent the Kyklopes or demon-attendants of the fire-god Hephaistos. See above, p. 105, under πύραυνοι; also Daremberg and Saglio, _art._ Caminus.

Footnote 782:

Lenormant, _La Grande Grèce_, i. p. 94.

Footnote 783:

Berlin 802 = _Ant. Denkm._ i. 8, 4.

Footnote 784:

_Cat._ 731 = Jahn in _Ber. d. sächs. Gesellsch._ 1854, pl. 1, fig. 1, p. 27.

Footnote 785:

A Seilenos in this act appears on a vase in _Sale Cat. Hôtel Drouot_, May 11th, 1903, No. 131 (reproduced in Fig. 68).

Footnote 786:

Examples are: _Ant. Denkm._ i. pl. 8, figs. 12, 19_b_, 22 (in Berlin); _Gaz. Arch._ 1880, pp. 105, 106 (in Louvre).

Footnote 787:

A better drawing has recently been given in Furtwaengler and Reichhold, _Gr. Vasenm._ p. 159; but the reproduction in Fig. 67 is accurate in all essentials.

Footnote 788:

_Cat._ 1114 = _Ath. Mitth._ xiv. (1889), p. 151.

Footnote 789:

See Blümner, ii. p. 52.

Footnote 790:

_Ibid._

Footnote 791:

See above, p. 214.

Footnote 792:

Blümner (ii. p. 75) gives an account of various chemical experiments made upon it.

Footnote 793:

See Blümner, ii. p. 76 ff.

Footnote 794:

_Traité_, i. p. 550.

Footnote 795:

This process is well illustrated on certain vases (_e.g._ B 158 in Brit. Mus.), where the artist has subsequently altered his design, and the lines still remain visible.

Footnote 796:

See for a fuller consideration of this point p. 368.

Footnote 797:

Baumeister, iii. p. 1992, fig. 2137 = Reinach, i. 336.

Footnote 798:

See Pottier, _Lecythes blancs_, p. 99 ff.

Footnote 799:

See Chapter XI., and Hartwig, _Meisterschalen_, p. 499.

Footnote 800:

_Jahrbuch_, 1899, p. 147 ff.

Footnote 801:

See _Ath. Mitth._ 1891, p. 376.

Footnote 802:

_Jahrbuch_, 1899, p. 154.

Footnote 803:

_Jahrbuch_, 1899, pl. 4.

Footnote 804:

_Cat._ 222.

Footnote 805:

See Durand-Gréville in _Rev. Arch._ xviii. (1891), p. 99 ff., xix. (1892), p. 363 ff.

Footnote 806:

See Blümner, _Technol._ ii. p. 81.

Footnote 807:

See for the four colours used by him, Plut. _de defect. orac._ 47, 436 C; Cic. _Brut._ 18, 70; and cf. Pliny, _H.N._ xxxv. 50.

Footnote 808:

On vases with gilding, see Jahn, _Vasen mit Goldschmuck_ (1865).

Footnote 809:

Plat. _Theaet._ 147 A, _Rep._ iv. 421 D; Pollux, vii. 163.

Footnote 810:

Strabo, xv. 717; Pollux, vii. 182.

Footnote 811:

Schol. _in_ Ar. _Pac._ 1202.

Footnote 812:

Pollux, vii. 160.

Footnote 813:

B.M. B 400.

Footnote 814:

Lucian, _Prom. in Verbis_, 2; cf. Lactantius, _Div. Inst._ ii. 11.

Footnote 815:

Plutarch, _Apophth. Reg. et Imp._ 176 E.

Footnote 816:

Cf. _B.M. Cat. of Sculpt._ i. 599; Ross-Meier, _Demen von Attika_, p. 122, No. 67. The persons here mentioned were not necessarily potters.

Footnote 817:

Boeckh, _C.I.G._ ii. 3485.

Footnote 818:

Hes. _Op. et Di._ 25: καὶ κεραμεὺς κεραμεῖ κοτέει; quoted by Aristotle, _Rhet._ ii. 4, 21, and Plat. _Lys._ 215 C. Euthymides on one of his vases places the boast, “Euphronios never did anything like this.” See for these two artists, Chapter X.

Footnote 819:

Cf. the vase at Athens described above (p. 218), and the others with representations of potteries.