DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42080#0024
4
ITALIC TOMB-GROUPS
seem at first glance to indicate a real slip, but on
closer examination it is seen that the surface particles
have merely pulled away from the underlying fabric
because of the greater shrinkage of finer clay. In
the process of polishing, the color of the surface is
altered. This is due both to the fact that there is
more color material in the finer particles of clay
which constitute the polished surface and to the
greater reflecting power of this surface. A good
example of the difference between a polished and
unpolished surface is afforded by No. 4 from Narce
2, PI. XXVII; the facets left by the polishing tool end
along the line of demarcation between the lighter
and deeper color. The contrast between polished
and unpolished surfaces is often greater, however,
than can be attributed entirely to the polishing tool;
in many cases color was added, probably in the form
of a color wash. The Faliscans were particularly
adept, as has been pointed out, Holland, p. 32, in
producing by this means a beautiful deep copper
red surface on their vases. Sometimes this color
wash, which was probably made from ochre, was
largely removed in polishing and the vase was then
so fired that the remnants of the wash were reduced
to a black color whereas the underlying surface was
left red, producing an effect of red streaked with
black. In the case also of vases with wholly black
surfaces, an ochre wash could have been used and
its change to black would be explained by a reduc-
ing atmosphere in firing. That this wash contained
ochre is not, however, proven. It is possible that
an organic wash was employed which would blacken
in firing, cf. The Pottery of Pecos, Part II: The Tech-
nology of Pecos Pottery, by A. V. Kidder and A. O.
Shepard, p. 420.
A thin slip of white clay is frequently used as a
ground for designs in red with, occasionally, black
accessories. On a lid, No. 2 from Narce 23 F, PL
IX, we see this slip applied to the upper surface
whereas the lower surface is of a deep red copper
color. In Narce 23 M, PI. XXI, we see white-slipped
vases with red designs in the same tomb with vases
of purified potter’s clay ornamented with similar
designs. The effect of these two techniques is al-
most precisely the same. The former is far more
common than the latter, perhaps because of the
difficulty of obtaining pure potter’s clay. Both
techniques may well have been inspired by Greek
wares.
In two cases only has been noted a slip which is
different from either the ‘mechanical slip’ or the
thin white slip just mentioned. The bowl, No. 6
from Narce 27 M, PI. XIII which is of the same type
as other bowls from this tomb, has a grey slip dif-
ferent in tone from that of the underlying clay.
It seems to be a case of a veritable slip and not a
mechanical film, and it is too thick to be called a
wash. It should be pointed out, however, that
slips cannot always be detected; cf. Anna Sheppard,
Technology of La Plata Pottery, in Archaeological Studies
of The La Plata District, by Earl H. Morris, and it
may be that No. 7 from Narce 27 M, the surface of
which is very like that of No. 6, also had a slip.
The other vase on which a slip has been noted is
No. 16 from Narce 2, PI. XXVII, a bowl once
covered inside and out with a red pigment thick
enough to be called a slip.
In addition to the red pigment applied on the
white ground either of a slipped surface or of potter’s
clay, a white pigment is also used on vases with
either red or black polished surfaces. Like the
white slip, it consists of white clay. Its consistency
varies. In most cases it is thin and applied with a
brush. Patterns in this thin white I believe to have
been far more extensive than is generally thought,
for they separate easily from the polished surface to
which they are applied' and are barely distinguish-
able from incrustations of lime left by the soil.
Luckily the vases here catalogued had never been
thoroughly cleaned and bits of design had been left
under the handles or in other places inaccessible to
the cleaner’s brush. Where the pattern called for
larger areas to be covered in white as on the figures
of men and horses on No. 1 from Narce 2 F, PI.
XXXIII and No. 3 from Narce 7 F, PI. XXXV, bands
of white were first painted along the contours of the
figures and the intervening spaces then filled in. A
thicker white pigment is also used for the patterns
applied to the rims and floors of cups and bowls.
The pattern is laid on with great accuracy; guiding
lines are used to keep the pattern true and within
these lines the strips of pigment are of even thickness.
On these and on the vases from Grave XII, Pi-
tigliano, which I examined in the Berlin Museum,
the effect is that of pigment fed on the vase through
a slit in a small container like a leather sack; cf.
BerWinckProg. 81, p. 16, Note 5.
Not only painted ornament was used by Italic
potters; they had recourse to an astonishing variety
of other decoration as well: incised designs often
filled with either white or red color, countersunk and
openwork ornament, a rope pattern made by im-
pressing a piece of twisted wire into the soft clay,
circular bosses, impressed bronze studs, and plastic
ITALIC TOMB-GROUPS
seem at first glance to indicate a real slip, but on
closer examination it is seen that the surface particles
have merely pulled away from the underlying fabric
because of the greater shrinkage of finer clay. In
the process of polishing, the color of the surface is
altered. This is due both to the fact that there is
more color material in the finer particles of clay
which constitute the polished surface and to the
greater reflecting power of this surface. A good
example of the difference between a polished and
unpolished surface is afforded by No. 4 from Narce
2, PI. XXVII; the facets left by the polishing tool end
along the line of demarcation between the lighter
and deeper color. The contrast between polished
and unpolished surfaces is often greater, however,
than can be attributed entirely to the polishing tool;
in many cases color was added, probably in the form
of a color wash. The Faliscans were particularly
adept, as has been pointed out, Holland, p. 32, in
producing by this means a beautiful deep copper
red surface on their vases. Sometimes this color
wash, which was probably made from ochre, was
largely removed in polishing and the vase was then
so fired that the remnants of the wash were reduced
to a black color whereas the underlying surface was
left red, producing an effect of red streaked with
black. In the case also of vases with wholly black
surfaces, an ochre wash could have been used and
its change to black would be explained by a reduc-
ing atmosphere in firing. That this wash contained
ochre is not, however, proven. It is possible that
an organic wash was employed which would blacken
in firing, cf. The Pottery of Pecos, Part II: The Tech-
nology of Pecos Pottery, by A. V. Kidder and A. O.
Shepard, p. 420.
A thin slip of white clay is frequently used as a
ground for designs in red with, occasionally, black
accessories. On a lid, No. 2 from Narce 23 F, PL
IX, we see this slip applied to the upper surface
whereas the lower surface is of a deep red copper
color. In Narce 23 M, PI. XXI, we see white-slipped
vases with red designs in the same tomb with vases
of purified potter’s clay ornamented with similar
designs. The effect of these two techniques is al-
most precisely the same. The former is far more
common than the latter, perhaps because of the
difficulty of obtaining pure potter’s clay. Both
techniques may well have been inspired by Greek
wares.
In two cases only has been noted a slip which is
different from either the ‘mechanical slip’ or the
thin white slip just mentioned. The bowl, No. 6
from Narce 27 M, PI. XIII which is of the same type
as other bowls from this tomb, has a grey slip dif-
ferent in tone from that of the underlying clay.
It seems to be a case of a veritable slip and not a
mechanical film, and it is too thick to be called a
wash. It should be pointed out, however, that
slips cannot always be detected; cf. Anna Sheppard,
Technology of La Plata Pottery, in Archaeological Studies
of The La Plata District, by Earl H. Morris, and it
may be that No. 7 from Narce 27 M, the surface of
which is very like that of No. 6, also had a slip.
The other vase on which a slip has been noted is
No. 16 from Narce 2, PI. XXVII, a bowl once
covered inside and out with a red pigment thick
enough to be called a slip.
In addition to the red pigment applied on the
white ground either of a slipped surface or of potter’s
clay, a white pigment is also used on vases with
either red or black polished surfaces. Like the
white slip, it consists of white clay. Its consistency
varies. In most cases it is thin and applied with a
brush. Patterns in this thin white I believe to have
been far more extensive than is generally thought,
for they separate easily from the polished surface to
which they are applied' and are barely distinguish-
able from incrustations of lime left by the soil.
Luckily the vases here catalogued had never been
thoroughly cleaned and bits of design had been left
under the handles or in other places inaccessible to
the cleaner’s brush. Where the pattern called for
larger areas to be covered in white as on the figures
of men and horses on No. 1 from Narce 2 F, PI.
XXXIII and No. 3 from Narce 7 F, PI. XXXV, bands
of white were first painted along the contours of the
figures and the intervening spaces then filled in. A
thicker white pigment is also used for the patterns
applied to the rims and floors of cups and bowls.
The pattern is laid on with great accuracy; guiding
lines are used to keep the pattern true and within
these lines the strips of pigment are of even thickness.
On these and on the vases from Grave XII, Pi-
tigliano, which I examined in the Berlin Museum,
the effect is that of pigment fed on the vase through
a slit in a small container like a leather sack; cf.
BerWinckProg. 81, p. 16, Note 5.
Not only painted ornament was used by Italic
potters; they had recourse to an astonishing variety
of other decoration as well: incised designs often
filled with either white or red color, countersunk and
openwork ornament, a rope pattern made by im-
pressing a piece of twisted wire into the soft clay,
circular bosses, impressed bronze studs, and plastic