DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8176#0015
INTRODUCTORY HISTORICAL NOTE.
El /J,ev Sdoaere jxiaQbv, ueiaui, u> icepa/Arjes-
Seup' ay 'AOrjvair), Kal vireLpe^e %etpa Kafxivov,
eu Se TrepavOeiev kotvKoi Kal irdvra Kavaarpa,
(frpv^dr/val T6 /caXtu? Kal rifirjs wvov apeaOat,,
TToXha, fj,ev elv dyopfj Tra>\evfj,eva, -rroXXa S' ayviai*;
*-!ToWa Be KepSrjvai, vfiip 8e Brj, &5? afyiv aelaai.
f)V S' eV avaiSeirjp rpefyOevTes -drevSe dp'qaQai,
avyicaXea) Br; e-rreLTa Kafxivw hr)\7]Trjpa<;,
'SuvTptjS' o/^co? 2/u.dpayov re Kal "Aa/3erov rj8e HafiaKTrjv
Tl^ohafiov 6\ 09 rrjSe Te%yr) Kaica, ttoWo, TropL^ei.
PSEUDO-HOMER, Kafuvos V. I—10.
A DESIGN from a black-figured hydria in the Pinakothek at Munich (Fig. i) shows us the workshop of a Greek
potter. The drawing is careless, but the subject is a rare one, and interesting for our purpose. The scene falls into two halves
divided by a Doric pillar : to the left we are within the house, to the right without. Within (the second figure to the
left) a boy seated on a low stool is turning a wheel, while a bearded man holds the vase and shapes it inside with
his left hand; the right is unfortunately lost. The vase painter takes us into the middle of things, a great deal of
careful work had gone on before. The clay had to
be chosen, whitish clay from Corinth, or red-coloured
from Attica, and best of all from Cape Kolias;
only rarely could a clay be found naturally ready
for use; if it had too much aluminium it would
shrink in the baking, if too many silicates it would
vitrify and crack. As a rule sand had to be added,
and if a brilliant red was wanted some oxide of iron.
To secure a perfectly even texture, the clay was
thoroughly washed and kneaded; it was then left
standing for a time, to get rid of organic imperfections. A man who was particular about his vases would not only ring
and test them before he bought, but would go to the pottery and see the clay before they were fired.
The clay was next roughly shaped to the required form by hand, and then came the wheel. To shape a small vase
on the wheel was a difficult and delicate matter; beginners were only allowed to do large amphorae and pithoi. Once turned the
vase was carried out into the open air and left there to dry gently. In the hydria picture a
slave is carrying out an amphora, and he is about to place it near the large vase already
drying outside the workshop. If the vase was a large one, its handles, neck, and foot
were made and partially dried separately, and then stuck on, sometimes with cement. The
junction points were then carefully rubbed down and polished to efface all traces of the
process. Fig. 2 from the interior of a cylix in Berlin shows a young workman polishing up
a drinking cup. Two vases painted and fired (an oinochoe" and a skyphos) are cooling
slowly outside the oven. Next the vase was painted, a process not shown in Fig. 1,
and then fired. To the right is the oven : the flames are pouring out, and a boy is
diligently stoking it; another workman is bringing up a sack of fuel, and, behind, the
overseer is coming up to see that all is right. Above the oven is a prophylactic mask. Firing was a ticklish business, and
* The Introductory Historical Note is, it should be distinctly understood, a sketch drawn up strictly with reference to the plates, not in any sense a
history of Greek Ceramography : based as it is solely on the plates, it has necessarily many laciuiw. It is an attempt to tell simply how vases were
made and painted, something of their shapes and uses, the subjects with which they are decorated and their inscriptions, the methods by which we are
able to date them. Above all, it is an attempt to put together what is known as to the methods, and even mannerisms, of the several artists who made
the selected examples, what traditions they followed, their influence on each other, and their general attitude towards literature and popular tradition.
It was not thought desirable to cumber the text with references to archaeological authorities. General expression must, however, be here made of the debt
we owe to many foreign specialists, notably to Drs. Klein, Winter, Diimmler, Studniczka, and M. Edmond Pottier. Dr. Hartwig's splendid work
on the Meistcrschalen happily appeared just as our book was in proof. To it and to Mr. Cecil Smith's kind revision we owe many valuable suggestions
on controverted points. J. E. H.
El /J,ev Sdoaere jxiaQbv, ueiaui, u> icepa/Arjes-
Seup' ay 'AOrjvair), Kal vireLpe^e %etpa Kafxivov,
eu Se TrepavOeiev kotvKoi Kal irdvra Kavaarpa,
(frpv^dr/val T6 /caXtu? Kal rifirjs wvov apeaOat,,
TToXha, fj,ev elv dyopfj Tra>\evfj,eva, -rroXXa S' ayviai*;
*-!ToWa Be KepSrjvai, vfiip 8e Brj, &5? afyiv aelaai.
f)V S' eV avaiSeirjp rpefyOevTes -drevSe dp'qaQai,
avyicaXea) Br; e-rreLTa Kafxivw hr)\7]Trjpa<;,
'SuvTptjS' o/^co? 2/u.dpayov re Kal "Aa/3erov rj8e HafiaKTrjv
Tl^ohafiov 6\ 09 rrjSe Te%yr) Kaica, ttoWo, TropL^ei.
PSEUDO-HOMER, Kafuvos V. I—10.
A DESIGN from a black-figured hydria in the Pinakothek at Munich (Fig. i) shows us the workshop of a Greek
potter. The drawing is careless, but the subject is a rare one, and interesting for our purpose. The scene falls into two halves
divided by a Doric pillar : to the left we are within the house, to the right without. Within (the second figure to the
left) a boy seated on a low stool is turning a wheel, while a bearded man holds the vase and shapes it inside with
his left hand; the right is unfortunately lost. The vase painter takes us into the middle of things, a great deal of
careful work had gone on before. The clay had to
be chosen, whitish clay from Corinth, or red-coloured
from Attica, and best of all from Cape Kolias;
only rarely could a clay be found naturally ready
for use; if it had too much aluminium it would
shrink in the baking, if too many silicates it would
vitrify and crack. As a rule sand had to be added,
and if a brilliant red was wanted some oxide of iron.
To secure a perfectly even texture, the clay was
thoroughly washed and kneaded; it was then left
standing for a time, to get rid of organic imperfections. A man who was particular about his vases would not only ring
and test them before he bought, but would go to the pottery and see the clay before they were fired.
The clay was next roughly shaped to the required form by hand, and then came the wheel. To shape a small vase
on the wheel was a difficult and delicate matter; beginners were only allowed to do large amphorae and pithoi. Once turned the
vase was carried out into the open air and left there to dry gently. In the hydria picture a
slave is carrying out an amphora, and he is about to place it near the large vase already
drying outside the workshop. If the vase was a large one, its handles, neck, and foot
were made and partially dried separately, and then stuck on, sometimes with cement. The
junction points were then carefully rubbed down and polished to efface all traces of the
process. Fig. 2 from the interior of a cylix in Berlin shows a young workman polishing up
a drinking cup. Two vases painted and fired (an oinochoe" and a skyphos) are cooling
slowly outside the oven. Next the vase was painted, a process not shown in Fig. 1,
and then fired. To the right is the oven : the flames are pouring out, and a boy is
diligently stoking it; another workman is bringing up a sack of fuel, and, behind, the
overseer is coming up to see that all is right. Above the oven is a prophylactic mask. Firing was a ticklish business, and
* The Introductory Historical Note is, it should be distinctly understood, a sketch drawn up strictly with reference to the plates, not in any sense a
history of Greek Ceramography : based as it is solely on the plates, it has necessarily many laciuiw. It is an attempt to tell simply how vases were
made and painted, something of their shapes and uses, the subjects with which they are decorated and their inscriptions, the methods by which we are
able to date them. Above all, it is an attempt to put together what is known as to the methods, and even mannerisms, of the several artists who made
the selected examples, what traditions they followed, their influence on each other, and their general attitude towards literature and popular tradition.
It was not thought desirable to cumber the text with references to archaeological authorities. General expression must, however, be here made of the debt
we owe to many foreign specialists, notably to Drs. Klein, Winter, Diimmler, Studniczka, and M. Edmond Pottier. Dr. Hartwig's splendid work
on the Meistcrschalen happily appeared just as our book was in proof. To it and to Mr. Cecil Smith's kind revision we owe many valuable suggestions
on controverted points. J. E. H.