feature at the present day. The private collections formed by so many
amateurs at the beginning of the century have nearly all been long
since dispersed and incorporated with the various national
collections[46]; and those formed more recently are rapidly sharing the
same fate. Hardly a year passes now without seeing the dispersion of
some notable collection like those of M. Sabouroff, M. van Branteghem,
Colonel Brown (Forman collection), or M. Bourguignon; and almost the
only important one that still remains intact is that of Sig. Jatta at
Ruvo (consisting almost entirely of South Italian vases). Now that the
days are past when it was the custom for rich collectors to publish
magnificently illustrated atlases of their possessions, this tendency
to centralisation can only be welcomed both by artists and students.
For the latter now it only remains to be desired that a scientific and
well-illustrated catalogue of every public museum should be available.
We append here a list of the principal museums and collections in
Europe, which may form a supplement to that given by Jahn in 1854. The
more important ones are printed in heavier type.
I. GREAT BRITAIN.
1. =London. British Museum= (see p. 24). Catalogue by C. Smith and
Walters.
South Kensington Museum (a few isolated specimens; also some
from the Museum of Practical Geology Jermyn Street).
Soane Museum (the Cawdor Vase).
2. =Oxford. Ashmolean Museum.= Catalogue by P. Gardner (1893).
3.= Cambridge. Fitzwilliam Museum.= Catalogue by E. A. Gardner
(1896).
4. Deepdene (Dorking). Hope Collection. Inaccessible to students.
Consists entirely of late vases from Southern Italy.
5. Numerous private collections, among the more important being—
Richmond. The late Sir F. Cook.
Castle Ashby. Marquis of Northampton.
6. Harrow School Museum (a fine “Theseus” Kylix and Krater with
Centaurs). Catalogue by C. Torr (1887).
7. Edinburgh.
II. FRANCE.
1. =Paris. The Louvre= (see p. 25). Catalogue by Pottier (in
progress).
=Bibliothèque Nationale.= Catalogue by A. de Ridder (1902).
Dzialynski Collection. See De Witte, _Coll. à l’Hôtel
Lambert_.
2. Marseilles Museum. Catalogue by Froehner (1897).
3. Rouen Museum.
4. Boulogne Museum.
5. Compiègne Museum.
6. Sèvres Museum.
III. BELGIUM AND HOLLAND.
1. Brussels.[47] See Cat. of Musée de Ravestein. Somzée Collection
(now dispersed).
2. Amsterdam. Six Collection.
3. Leyden Museum. See Roulez, _Vases de Leyde_.
IV. GERMANY.
1. =Berlin. Antiquarium= (see p. 25). Catalogue by Furtwaengler
(1885).
2. Altenburg.
3. Bonn.
4. Breslau.
5. Brunswick.
6. Dresden.
7. Frankfurt. Museum Städel.
8. Gotha.
9. Heidelberg.
10. =Karlsruhe.= Catalogue by Winnefeld (1887).
11. Leipzig.
12. =Munich.= Catalogue by Jahn (1854).
13. Schwerin.
14. =Würzburg.= Antikenkabinet. Coll. Bankó.
V. DENMARK AND SWEDEN.
1. Kopenhagen. Catalogue by Smith (1862).
2. Stockholm.
VI. RUSSIA.
1. =Petersburg. Hermitage.= Catalogue by Stephani (1869).
Stroganoff Coll.
Pisareff Coll.
2. Dorpat (University).
VII. AUSTRIA.
1. =Vienna. Oesterreichisches Museum.= Catalogue by Masner (1891).
K. K. Kabinet. University.
2. Cracow. Czartoryski Coll.
3. Prague. Pollak Coll.
4. Trieste. Museum.
VIII. SWITZERLAND.
1. Berne }
2. Geneva } All unimportant for Greek Vases.
3. Zürich.}
IX. SPAIN.
Madrid.
X. ITALY AND SICILY.
1. Acerra. Spinelli Coll.
2. Adria. Museo Bocchi. Publication by Schöne.
3. Arezzo. Chiefly Roman Arretine ware.
4. =Bologna. Museo Civico.= Catalogue by Pellegrini (1900).
Università.
5. Capua. Campana Coll.
6. Cervetri. Ruspoli Coll.
7. Chiusi. Museum. Casucchini Coll. (but see p. 73).
8. Corneto. Museum. Bruschi Coll.
9. Florence. Museum.
10. =Naples. Museo Nazionale.= Catalogue by Heydemann (1872).
11. Orvieto. Museum. Faina Coll.
12. Palermo. Museum.
13. Parma.
14. Perugia. Museum.
15. =Ruvo. Jatta Coll.= Catalogue by Sig. G. Jatta (1869).
16. Taranto. Museum.
17. Terranuova (Gela). Private collections.
18. =Rome. Vatican= (=Mus. Gregoriano=). Guide by Helbig. Museo
Capitolino. Museo Papa Giulio. Numerous private
collections: Hartwig, Torlonia, Castellani, etc., and
Deutsches Arch. Inst.
XI. GREECE.
1. =Athens. National Museum.= Catalogue by Couve and Collignon
(1902). Do. (Acropolis Collection). Catalogue in
progress. Trikoupis Coll. Other private collections.
2. Eleusis. Museum (local finds).
3. Candia (Crete).
XII. ASIA MINOR.
Smyrna. Various private collections.
XIII. CYPRUS.
Nicosia. Cyprus Museum. Catalogue by Myres and Richter (1899).
Private collections at Larnaka, Nicosia, and Limassol.
XIV. EGYPT.
Cairo. Ghizeh Museum.
XV. AMERICA.
1. =Boston.= Catalogue by Robinson.
2. New York. Metropolitan Museum. Atlas of Cesnola Collection from
Cyprus published.
3. Baltimore.
4. Chicago.
-----
Footnote 1:
_B.M. Guide to First and Second Egyptian Rooms_ (1904), p. 22; for
early Neolithic pottery from Ireland see _Guide to Antiqs. of Stone
Age_, p. 84.
Footnote 2:
Remains of Neolithic pottery have recently been found in Crete
(_J.H.S._ xxiii. p. 158) and in the Cyclades.
Footnote 3:
_Cat. des Vases Antiques du Louvre_ i. p. 18.
Footnote 4:
Miss Harrison, _Mythology and Monuments of Athens_, preface, p. ii.
The Introduction to this work contains some excellent examples of the
modern method of using vase-paintings to elucidate mythology.
Footnote 5:
For the use of vase-paintings in illustration of Greek religious
beliefs and customs, reference may be made to Miss Harrison’s
_Prolegomena to Greek Religion_ (Cambridge Press, 1903), containing
many interesting interpretations of scenes on the vases which may
bear on the subject.
Footnote 6:
See Chapter XIV., _ad fin._
Footnote 7:
_Ant. Denkm._ i. 57.
Footnote 8:
Cf. for instance Berlin 2154 (Endt, _Ion. Vasenm._ p. 29).
Footnote 9:
Collignon, _Hist. de la Sculpt. Grecque_, i. p. 362.
Footnote 10:
Gerhard, _Auserl. Vasenb._ 81.
Footnote 11:
As, for instance, the subjects of Odysseus and Philoktetes; Orestes
slaying Aegisthos; the death of Polyxena; Theseus fetching the ring
from Amphitrite. Cf. Huddilston, _Lessons from Greek Pottery_, p. 28.
Footnote 12:
_Museum Romanum_, Rome, 1690, fol.
Footnote 13:
_Thesaur. Antiq. Rom._ xii. 955.
Footnote 14:
_Thesaur. regii Brandenb._ vol. iii.
Footnote 15:
_Ant. Expliq._ iii. pls. 71–77 (1719).
Footnote 16:
_Etr. Regal._ 1723, fol.
Footnote 17:
_Mus. Etr._ 1737–43.
Footnote 18:
_Recueil_, 1752–67 (especially vols. i.–ii.).
Footnote 19:
_Antiqs. Étr. Gr. et Rom., tirées du Cabinet de M. H._, fol. 1766–67.
Footnote 20:
1791–1803. Plates for a fifth volume were prepared, but never
regularly published (see Reinach, _Répertoire des Vases Peints_, ii.
p. 334).
Footnote 21:
_Peintures des Vases Antiques_, edited by M. Dubois-Maisonneuve, in
two volumes, with Introduction (1808–10); now re-edited by S. Reinach
(1891).
Footnote 22:
_Vases Grecs_, Rome, 1813; _Vases de Coghill_, Rome, 1817; _Ancient
Uned. Monuments_, London, 1822; the two former now re-edited by S.
Reinach, 1891 and 1900.
Footnote 23:
_Vases de Lamberg_, Paris, 1813–25; re-edited by S. Reinach, 1900.
Footnote 24:
_Vasi de Blacas._ This was never actually published: see Reinach,
_Répertoire_, ii. p. 383.
Footnote 25:
_Disquisitions on the Painted Vases_, 1806.
Footnote 26:
_Coll. of Antique Vases_, London, 1814.
Footnote 27:
_Vasi Fittili_, 4 vols. 1833; _Mon. Etruschi_ (1824), vol. v.; _Gal.
Omerica_, 3 vols. 1831–36, etc.
Footnote 28:
_De’ vasi antichi dipinti_, 1806.
Footnote 29:
_Gr. Vasengemälde_, 1797–1800.
Footnote 30:
_Monumenti per servire alla storia degli ant. pop. ital._ 2nd edn.
1833; _Monumenti inediti_, 1844.
Footnote 31:
_Mon. Inéd._ 1828.
Footnote 32:
_Gräber der Hellenen_, Berlin, 1837.
Footnote 33:
_Descr. de quelques vases peints_, 1840.
Footnote 34:
_Die Vasensammlung zu München_, Introduction.
Footnote 35:
He gave the name of Etruria to the place in Staffordshire where he
set up his pottery, after the supposed origin of the ancient vases.
Footnote 36:
_Namen der Vasenbilder_, 1849.
Footnote 37:
Vol. ii. p. 108.
Footnote 38:
_Ann. dell’ Inst._ 1832, p. 145 ff.
Footnote 39:
_Peintures_, p. viii.
Footnote 40:
_Der Stil u. Herkunft der gr. Vasen_, p. 46 ff.
Footnote 41:
_Rapporto Volcente_, in _Ann. dell’ Inst._ 1831, p. 98 ff.
Footnote 42:
The names of the chief modern writers on the subject are given in the
Bibliography, and in the notes to the Historical Chapters (VI.-XI.),
where also brief bibliographies are given.
Footnote 43:
The writer is indebted to the Introduction to M. Pottier’s admirable
little Catalogue of the Vases in the Louvre for many ideas worked up
in the foregoing pages.
Footnote 44:
See Pottier’s Catalogue, i. p. 59.
Footnote 45:
See the Introduction to Furtwaengler’s Catalogue.
Footnote 46:
Cf. the lists given by Jahn, _Vasens. zu München_, pp. xi, xiv, with
(for instance) the notes appended to the pages of Reinach’s
_Répertoire_.
Footnote 47:
The collection made by Baron Hirsch in Paris is now incorporated with
this Museum.
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 1. INTERIOR OF COFFIN FOUND AT ATHENS, SHOWING
ARRANGEMENT OF VASES.]
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]
[Illustration:
From _Ath. Mitth._
FIG. 2. DIAGRAM OF BRONZE AGE TOMBS, AGIA PARASKEVI, CYPRUS.
]
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]
[Illustration:
From _Ashmolean Vases_.
FIG. 3. DISPOSITION OF VASES IN TOMB AT
GELA, SICILY.
]
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 4. THE CAMPANA TOMB AT VEII, AS IT APPEARED WHEN
OPENED.]
* * * * *
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 5. MAP OF GREECE.]
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,
[Illustration:
MAP OF ASIA MINOR & THE ARCHIPELAGO
Showing sites on which painted vases have been found.
FIG. 6.
]
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 7. MAP OF CYPRUS.]
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 8. MAP OF ITALY.]
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
Chapter XI.
Among the sites in Lucania on which vases have been found,[266] the
most important is _Anzi_, the ancient Anxia, which appears to have been
the chief centre for the manufacture of the Lucanian vases. Earlier
examples of Greek red-figured vases have also come from this site, but
the majority are of the Lucanian class.[267] Provenances in this
district are, however, always doubtful, and in many cases nothing more
definite than “Basilicata” can be ascertained. But discoveries on the
following sites seem to be well attested: Armento,[268] Eboli,[269]
Missanello, Grumento, Potenza,[270] Pomarico, and Pisticci.[271] The
British Museum collection includes a fine B.F. krater (B 360) from
Armento, the famous vase with the Doloneia (F 157 = Fig. 130.) from
Pisticci, several from Anzi, and a few from Pomarico. In the Naples
Museum are vases from Pomarico, Pisticci, and elsewhere (chiefly in the
Santangelo collection), while the Koller collection, now in the Berlin
Museum, contains many from Castelluccio, S. Arcangelo, and other sites.
But none of these finds compare in any sense with those of Apulia and
Campania. There were no ancient cities of special importance in this
region, and hence no large cemeteries, while the local fabric was
probably not of long duration.
In Apulia the site above all others important is that of _Ruvo_, which
was no doubt the chief centre of the local pottery-manufactures, and
has yielded a great majority of the vases known as “Apulian,” as well
as many of earlier style. Excavations began here in the eighteenth
century, but it was not until 1828 that they were undertaken on any
large scale. Vases are still found from time to time at the present
day, and one of the largest private collections still existing, that of
Signor Jatta, is extraordinarily rich in the vases of Apulian style
collected by this gentleman and preserved on the spot. It is curious
that Ruvo (Rubi) had no special importance in antiquity; it may,
however, be worth noting that remains of a pottery with furnaces, etc.,
have come to light.[272] The Apulian vases from Ruvo have no special
characteristics which distinguish them from the other Apulian fabrics.
It would be futile to attempt a detailed description of the finds at
Ruvo,[273] which include such a large proportion of the magnificent
Apulian vases covered with paintings of an elaborate nature. Of earlier
specimens, an isolated Corinthian vase, two Panathenaic amphorae, and
sundry other B.F. vases are known, as also occasional R.F. vases, but
these are almost exceptions. Among the most famous Apulian vases are
those representing the Death of Talos, the Death of Archemoros,
preparations for a Satyric Drama, and so on.[274]
More important in antiquity, though less productive in vases, is
_Canosa_, the ancient Canusium, where a set of fine vases was first
discovered in 1813 and published by Millin. Among the best of these is
the great Dareios vase at Naples (see Chapter XIV. _ad fin._). Nearly
all are of the Apulian class, with preferences for certain forms and
details (such as the use of purple) not appearing at Ruvo, and a
typical local product is a kind of _prochoös_ or tall jug.[275] Canosa
was also a centre for the large terracotta vases which have been also
found at Calvi (see p. 119).
At _Bari_ vases have been found from time to time, and there is a fair
collection in the local museum[276]; they include the famous
Poniatowski vase with Triptolemos’ setting-out, now in the Vatican, and
the krater in the British Museum (F 269) with the burlesque combat of
Ares and Hephaistos over Hera. _Ceglie_ has chiefly supplied the Berlin
Museum with its Apulian specimens (from the Koller collection), others
passing into a private collection at Naples. They are mostly of the
later over-elaborated style.
_Altemura_ has supplied a few, but chiefly fine, vases, including the
R.F. krater with the birth of Pandora (Brit. Mus. E 467) and the
magnificent vase representing the Under-world found in 1847 and now in
Naples. Other finds have been made at _Polignano_, _Putignano_, and
_Fasano_ (Gnatia), which last site is interesting as the probable
centre of a late fabric. Most of the vases found here have figures or
patterns painted in opaque white and purple on the black glaze, and
represent the latest stage of vase-painting in Southern Italy.[277]
They are found almost exclusively on this site. It is also represented
by some late R.F. vases with polychrome decoration.
In the region covered by the “heel” of Italy the most important site,
as also the most important city in ancient times, is _Taranto_ or
Tarentum. Chiefly on the authority of M. Lenormant,[278] this city was
for a long time regarded as the centre of many South Italian fabrics,
including the vases with burlesque scenes (φλύακες), those of Paestum,
the Fasano ware, and, in fact, all Apulian fabrics. But the extensive
excavations that have taken place at Tarentum of late years have shown
that Lenormant and those who followed him were quite misled. Few
Apulian vases have come to light, the Paestum fabric is unrepresented,
and although the φλύακες of Tarentum were no doubt specially famous in
antiquity, there is no authority for connecting this class of vases
with them to the exclusion of other sites. Vases, in fact, are
extremely rare at Tarentum, which made a much greater speciality of
terracottas, especially of a votive kind; a few B.F. and R.F. specimens
are known,[279] including the remarkable fragment of a R.F. krater in
the British Museum (E 494), and a fine krater with an Amazonomachia
(Bibl. Nat. 421).
Vases from _Metapontum_ also are few and far between; the British
Museum possesses a specimen with figures in relief on black ground; and
finds are also reported from _Lecce_, _Brindisi_, and _Oria_.[280] Many
examples of local fabrics, described in Chapter XVIII., have been found
in this district, and specimens are preserved in the museums at Bari,
Lecce, and elsewhere. Lastly we have to speak of the finds made at
_Locri_ on the east side of the “toe” of Italy, the only important site
in that district which has yielded Greek vases. Many of these are white
lekythi with figures in outline and polychrome, resembling the
well-known Athenian fabrics. They were originally (like those of Gela)
thought to be local products, but it is more likely that they were made
at Athens and imported, the Locrians having a particular preference for
these vases, as the people of Nola had for the slim amphorae. Some of
the B.F. and R.F. vases found here are of a very fair order of
merit.[281]
=Sicily=, so celebrated for its magnificent works of art, has yielded a
considerable number of painted vases of all periods. The cities of the
southern coast have produced the greatest number, especially Syracuse,
Gela (Terranuova), and Agrigentum (Girgenti). Many have also come from
the cemeteries of Acrae, Leontini, and Megara Hyblaea. Palermo,
Messina, and Catania have produced isolated examples. The richest finds
have been in the recently excavated cemeteries of _Syracuse_. The
discoveries of early vases and fragments made here by Dr. Orsi are of
the utmost importance, and include quantities of specimens of Mycenaean
and “Proto-Corinthian” wares.[282]
At _Terranuova_ or Gela, one of the earliest settlements of the island,
vases with black and with red figures were found as long ago as the
eighteenth century,[283] and in 1792 a pottery with furnaces and vases
was discovered in the neighbourhood.[284] Of late years vases with
black and red figures, some of the latter being of the finest style,
have been discovered in large numbers, as well as white lekythi,
probably imported from Athens. Of these finds we have already given
some description (p. 37). In 1862 Mr. George Dennis found a series of
fine R.F. lekythi of the “severe” period, together with B.F. vases and
archaic terracottas, now in the British Museum; and these have been
fully rivalled by Mr. Arthur Evans’ discoveries in later years. The
site has also yielded vases of a primitive character, imitating early
Greek wares. Gela was always noted for its potteries, as the ceramic
decorations of the Geloan Treasury at Olympia show (p. 100); many of
the vases have characteristic Sicilian subjects, and there was
undoubtedly a considerable local fabric.
Of the vases found at _Girgenti_ (Agrigentum) the most noteworthy is
the beautiful lebes now in the British Museum,[285] of the finest R.F.
style, described as “one of the finest specimens of Greek ceramography
that has come down to us, absolutely unsurpassed in its combination of
artistic merit and mythological interest.” It was found in 1830, and
belonged to the poet Samuel Rogers; the subject is the combat of
Theseus with the Amazons. Other B.F. and R.F. vases of fine style have
come from this site,[286] as well as a series of moulds for vases with
reliefs, of the Hellenistic period.[287] Fine vases are said to have
been found at _Kamarina_,[288] a few with red figures at _Himera_, and
some archaic lekythi at _Selinus_.[289] From _Lentini_ Jahn records
polychrome and R.F. vases, the latter of the “strong” and later
periods.[290] At _Palazzolo_ (Acrae) B.F. and R.F. vases have been
found, including a B.F. kotyle in the British Museum (B 79),
representing Dionysos in a car formed like a ship. At _Centorbi_
(Centuripae) almost the only find of note was a conical cover of a
large bowl ornamented with encaustic paintings, the colours having been
prepared with wax; parts of two bowls were also found decorated with
designs in relief and gilt, of scrolls, small Cupids, and heads of
Medusa.[291] Other sites that may be mentioned are: Hybla Heraea
(Ragusa),[292] Catania, Alicata,[293] Aderno[294] at the foot of Etna,
and Monte Saraceno.[295]
At Tharros, in _Sardinia_, extensive excavations were made in 1856, and
a long series of tombs found containing Phoenician objects in
porcelain, engraved scarabs, terracotta figures, and other objects, but
little painted Greek pottery of any importance.[296] An interesting
krater of late date, with the head of the Satyr Akratos, from the
island of _Lipari_ is now in the collection of Mr. J. Stevenson at
Glasgow[297]; and in _Ischia_ was found a krater with the subject of
the infant Dionysos confided to the Nymphs.[298] In the public museum
of _Malta_ some Greek vases are to be seen,[299] but it is not known
whether they were actually found there.
We have now completed the circuit of the ancient world, so far as finds
of Greek pottery are concerned, as with the exception of Marseilles,
already alluded to none can be traced in Spain or Central Europe.
-----
Footnote 48:
Curiously enough, the relative proportions of Greek and Oriental
civilisation in Asia Minor are almost exactly the same at the present
day as in the sixth century B.C. The Greeks are mostly to be found in
towns like Smyrna, and the adjoining islands, while the central part
of the country is almost entirely Turkish.
Footnote 49:
See for references to descriptions of tombs Hermann, _Lehrbuch d.
Antiq._ iv. (1882), p. 377.
Footnote 50:
Room K, Cases 69–72.
Footnote 51:
For specimens of typical Athenian tombs see Stackelberg, _Gräber der
Hellenen_, pl. 7. Fig. 1. gives a reproduction of a cist full of
vases from _ibid._ pl. 8. For an admirable description of the tombs
of the Dipylon, see _Ath. Mitth._ 1893, p. 74 ff.
Footnote 52:
_Compte-Rendu_, Atlas, 1859, pls. 5–6; Macpherson, _Antiqs. of
Kertch_, _passim_.
Footnote 53:
_Arch. Zeit._ 1850, p. 209, pl. 19.
Footnote 54:
_Journ. Hell. Stud._ vi. p. 237.
Footnote 55:
See for illustrations of tombs at Agia Paraskevi, near Nicosia, _Ath.
Mitth._ 1886, xi. p. 209 ff., and Suppl. pl. 2, from which Fig. 2. is
taken.
Footnote 56:
For specimens of Cypriote tombs of all periods the reader is referred
to Cesnola’s _Cyprus; Brit. Mus. Excavations in Cyprus_, 1893–96;
_Journ. Hell. Stud._ ix. p. 264 (Paphos) and xi. p.19 ff. (Poli).
Footnote 57:
_Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit._ 2nd Ser. ix. (1870), p. 162.
Footnote 58:
Gardner, _Cat. of Vases in Ashmol. Mus._ p. vii.
Footnote 59:
Cavallari in _Bull. della Comm. di Antich. in Sicil._ 1872, v. p. 10,
pl. 3.
Footnote 60:
Vol. ii. p. 57, vignette. Models of this tomb exist in cork, and
specimens may be seen in the Winchester College Museum and Eton
School Library.
Footnote 61:
_Scavi di Certosa_, 1875, text and plates.
Footnote 62:
For tombs at Ruvo see Jatta, _Cat. del Museo_, p. 53 ff.
Footnote 63:
Reference may also be made to Martha, _L'Art Étrusque_, p. 183 ff.
Footnote 64:
For an example in the B.M. see E 811 in the Fourth Vase Room, Cases
6–7. A plain jar of late date, from Halikarnassos, full of calcined
bones, is in the Terracotta Room of the B.M., Case 20.
Footnote 65:
See also Rathgen, _Konservirung von Altertumsfunden_, p. 67.
Footnote 66:
Westropp, _Epochs of Painted Vases_, p. 17.
Footnote 67:
Inghirami, _Vasi Fittili_, i. pl. 13; a false vase is also published
in Passeri, 300, and others in D'Hancarville, ii. 71, 84. The worst
specimen is perhaps that engraved by Millin, _Peintures_, ii, pls.
54–5 (reproduced in Reinach’s edition), which yet for a long time
found general acceptance. As a curiosity and a warning it deserves
perpetuation.
Footnote 68:
Eng. transl. p. 180 ff.
Footnote 69:
Curiously enough there was in M. Tyszkiewicz’s own collection a
white-ground cup with the subject of Phrixos (_Sale Cat._ pl. 35),
which is certainly open to suspicion·
Footnote 70:
_Gaz. Arch._ 1875, pl. 14.
Footnote 71:
Reinach, ii. 62 (in Louvre).
Footnote 72:
B.M. E 458.
Footnote 73:
Munich 404.
Footnote 74:
B.M. E 468.
Footnote 75:
B.M. F 331.
Footnote 76:
B.M. B 130.
Footnote 77:
See Reinach, _Répertoire_, ii. p. 277.
Footnote 78:
Millin-Reinach, i. pl. 49; now at Deepdene (?).
Footnote 79:
This has been especially the case of late years, as in the sale of M.
van Branteghem’s collection in 1892, when a small kylix signed by
Sotades cost as much as £400, and two others slightly less.
Footnote 80:
Some account of the prices paid for vases will be found in De Witte’s
_Description des Antiquités et Objets d’Art qui composent le cabinet
de feu M. le Chev. E. Durand_, Paris, 1836; and in the same author’s
_Description d’une collection de vases peints et bronzes antiques
provenant des fouilles de l’Étrurie_, Paris, 1837.
Footnote 81:
His Introduction to the Munich Vase Catalogue gives a good account of
finds of vases in Greece up to that time (1854); see p. xxi. ff.
Footnote 82:
Cf. Athenaeus, i. 28 C; xi. 484 F, and 480 C.
Footnote 83:
B 130. See _Cat._ vol. ii. for list of publications of this vase.
Footnote 84:
_Gräber der Hellenen._ He also gives some description of the tombs in
which they were found, and the nature of their contents (see above,
p. 33).
Footnote 85:
Good summaries of these discoveries will be found in the _Arch.
Anzeiger_, 1893, p. 13 ff., and _Berliner Philol. Wochenschr._ 1895,
p. 59.
Footnote 86:
_E.g._ Bibl. Nat. 865 _bis_; Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1885, pls. 8–9; 1888, pl. 12;
1898, pls. 2–5; 1901, pl. 1.
Footnote 87:
_Ath. Mitth._ 1893, p. 46 ff.: see also Bibl. Nat. 496 _bis_, 506.
Footnote 88:
Bibl. Nat. 417 is from the neighbouring Munychia.
Footnote 89:
_Ath. Mitth._ 1896, p. 385 ff.; and see below, p. 278.
Footnote 90:
Berlin 56 = _Jahrbuch_, 1887, pl. 5.
Footnote 91:
A fine R.F. and polychrome kylix = _Mon. dell’ Inst._ x. 37 _a_ =
Reinach, _Répertoire_, i. p. 207; also Athens 688 = Reinach, i. 164.
Footnote 92:
Berlin 2030; Athens 1167.
Footnote 93:
Berlin 2493, 2690; _Arch. Zeit._ 1880, pl. 16 = Reinach, i. p. 428.
Footnote 94:
Berlin 2373.
Footnote 95:
Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1895, pl. 11 (Mycenaean).
Footnote 96:
Berlin 1887–89.
Footnote 97:
Athens 1241; _Amer. Journ. of Arch._ 1903, p. 320.
Footnote 98:
See for the Vourva vases Athens 592 ff.; _Ath. Mitth._ 1890, p. 318
ff.; _Jahrbuch_, 1903, p. 124 ff.; and p. 299 below.
Footnote 99:
See Dodwell, _Tour_, ii. p. 180. Stephanus of Byzantium speaks of the
pottery of Megara (_s.v._) See also Athens 1858; Petersburg 1563 _a_.
Footnote 100:
viii. p. 381: cf. p. 134.
Footnote 101:
Ross, _Arch. Aufs._ ii. p. 344; Bibl. Nat. 101: see also Jahn’s
_Einleitung_, p. xxv.
Footnote 102:
_Ibid._ i. p. 57.
Footnote 103:
See p. 316.
Footnote 104:
_E.g._ Bibl. Nat. 94, 313, 1179.
Footnote 105:
See generally Furtwaengler and Loeschcke, _Myken. Vasen_, p. 50; for
notices of Mycenaean fragments by early travellers, Dodwell, _Tour_,
ii. p. 237, and Burgon in _Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit._ 2nd Ser. ii.
(1847), p. 258 ff., with plate opposite p. 296.
Footnote 106:
Fig. 88, p. 297.
Footnote 107:
_Ibid._ pls. 15, 21, p. 45; Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1895, pl. 11.
Footnote 108:
Furtwaengler and Loeschcke, p. 47.
Footnote 109:
_Arch. Zeit._ 1859, pl. 125 = Reinach, i. 389: see also _Bull. dell’
Inst._ 1832, p. 62; _Ann. dell’ Inst._ 1847, p. 250.
Footnote 110:
_Cat._ 1615, 1901, 1931–32: see also _Branteghem Sale Cat._ 94.
Footnote 111:
_Cat._ 1974.
Footnote 112:
Bibl. Nat. 166; _Class. Review_, 1891, p. 73; Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1892, pl. 4.
Footnote 113:
See _Ergebnisse_, iv. p. 198 ff.
Footnote 114:
See p. 391.
Footnote 115:
See p. 451.
Footnote 116:
See Kekulé, _Thonfiguren aus Tanagra_, p. 13.
Footnote 117:
Isolated vase-finds from Tanagra are the early B.F. tripod, Berlin
1727, and the fine R.F. krater, Athens 1259.
Footnote 118:
_Bull. de Corr. Hell._ xix. p. 177.
Footnote 119:
Cf. Athens 678, 809, 1156, 1158.
Footnote 120:
Vases from Lamia are Nos. 1621 and 1984; from Lokris, 1354, 1434;
from Phokis, 1177, 1181.
Footnote 121:
_Branteghem Sale Cat._ No. 96.
Footnote 122:
_Ibid._ No. 43; Berlin 2938.
Footnote 123:
B.M. E 719, an alabastron formerly in the Branteghem collection.
Footnote 124:
_Ath. Mitth._ 1889, p. 151: see below, p. 217. A late B.F. vase of
“Kabeirion” style.
Footnote 125:
Fragments from Delphi are recorded in _Ann. dell’ Inst._ 1841, p. 10;
Jahn, _Vasens. zu München_, p. xxv; _Morgenblatt_, 1835, p. 698.
Footnote 126:
Furtwaengler and Loeschcke, p. 43.
Footnote 127:
_Ath. Mitth._ 1901, p. 237.
Footnote 128:
For Kephallenia see _J.H.S._ xxiv. p. 126.
Footnote 129:
_Ann. dell’ Inst._ 1847, p. 247, note 5; Mustoxidi, _Delle cose
Corciresi_, i. p. 271; B.M. A 1670.
Footnote 130:
A beautiful polychrome lekythos in the B.M. (D 70 = Plate LV.) is
from this island, on the authority of Raoul-Rochette (_Peint. Antiq._
p. 415); but see Benndorf, _Gr. u. Sic. Vasenb._ p. 42, where it is
attributed to Aegina.
Footnote 131:
Perrot, _Hist. de l’Art_, vii. pp. 51, 208.
Footnote 132:
_Ath. Mitth._ 1897, p. 259.