Attic Pottery Black-Figure Ware Neck Amphora

Inv. No.: G3.11
Provenance: Attica
Date: c. 550-520 BC
Height: 375mm
 
On loan from Graham Geddes

A large neck-amphora, i.e., the straight neck is offset from the swollen body. The junction is marked by a small moulding. The lip is echinus-shaped and the handles are straps made from three rolls of clay joined together. They curve from the side of the neck down on to the top of the shoulder. There is a small moulding between the base of the vase and the foot which is in two degrees, with the lower section torus in shape. The vase is mainly red with black used for the edge of the lip, the interior of the mouth down to just below the start of the neck, the outsides of the handles, a band towards the base and the top of the foot. It is also decorated with a black-figure scene on each side plus black floral and geometric patterns. Added red and white are also used. On Side A is a quadriga scene while on Side B there are two central warriors armed with shields and helmets. A draped attendant stands behind each warrior. The vase has been put together from a number of pieces, but is in good condition with only small chips missing and some abrasion.

Function:
A container for wine or oil.

Manufacture:
Thrown on the pottery wheel, perhaps in separate sections that were joined as they were beginning to harden. The handles were shaped by hand and joined to the body of the vase with slip. The foot and mouth have been turned.

Decoration:

1. The top of the lip is reserved and the outside and inside are painted black. There are two dilute slip lines on the neck below the lip, then a double lotus-palmette pattern in black. Another dilute slip line marks the junction between the neck and the shoulder. A band of outlined tongues enclosed between reddish-black lines encircles the top of the shoulder. The tongues are alternately black and red except for one with added white on Side B. This is just to the left of where the crest of the helmet of the left-hand warrior on that side interrupts the tongue frieze.
2. The edges of the handles are black. Black tendrils pass from the bases of the handles and connect with four palmettes (two upright and two hanging down) plus three lotus buds.
3. Side A: Two figures, in profile facing right, are mounted on a chariot drawn by four horses. Both are wearing cloaks decorated with dilute white bands and white rosettes. The left-hand figure is the driver who has a beard painted with dilute white; he wears a reddish fillet in his hair. He holds the reins in both hands plus a whip in his right hand. He largely overlaps his passenger (perhaps a woman) who leans on a stick. The outside horse is black with a dilute white mane. The next horse is largely obscured, but part of his black head is visible to the right. Then there is a solid white horse to the left and the innermost horse (again to the left) also has a dilute white mane. A bird (eagle?) flies to the right above the horses' rumps. To the right of the quadriga stands a young man, facing left, with a reddish fillet in his hair, wearing a cloak decorated with dilute white bands, white rosettes and an incised pattern of dashes between double lines at knee level.
4. Side B: In the centre are two profile warriors wearing greaves, facing left. Their bodies are covered by large round shields; the one on the left is decorated with a black rim and a solid white centre while the right-hand shield has a dilute white rim and a black centre with a device of four white balls. Both warriors wear Corinthian helmets, high crested on the left and low on the right. Dilute white is used for the helmet and greaves of the left-hand warrior, while the helmet of the right-hand warrior has a reddish band. Each warrior is flanked by a standing profile attendant who faces towards the centre. Each attendant has short hair with a reddish fillet and wears a himation decorated with dilute white edges, white rosettes and an incised pattern of dashes between double lines at knee height.
5. The figures are placed on a ground line below which is a pattern of upright black linked lotus buds between reddish-black lines. Then there is a sequence of a band with a black leftward key pattern enclosed between dilute slip lines, two more lines, a band of black (which has fired red in places) and a reserved band decorated with black rays. The foot is black (fired red in places) except for the edge of the torus which is reserved, and the junction between the upper and lower parts of the foot which is either reserved or the black has worn away.

Painter:
Attributed to the Painter of Vatican 365. The Painter of Vatican 365 was a minor painter of larger vases in the period of mature black-figure vase painting (c. 570-525 BC).

Bibliography:
Beazley, J. D., Attic Black-Figure Vase Painters, New York, Hacker, 1978, 311-312, 693.

Beazley, J. D., Paralipomena: Additions to Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters and to Attic Red-Figure Vase Painters, second edition, Oxford, Clarendon, 1971, 135-136.

Carpenter, T. H., Beazley Addenda: Additional References to ABV, ARV2 & Paralipomena, second edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1989, 84.

Comparanda:
Side A:

Burow, J., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Deutschland 47, Tübingen 3 (1980), Tafel 2, 1 (similar horses in quadriga).

Giglioli, G. Q., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Italy 1, Villa Giulia 1 (undated), III H e, Tavola 5, 1.

Hayes, J. W., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Canada 1, Toronto 1 (1981), Plate 9, 1.

Moore, M. B., "The Amasis Painter and Exekias: Approaches to Narrative", Papers on the Amasis Painter and his World, Malibu, California, The J. Paul Getty Museum, 1987, Fig. 9, p. 163 (quadriga scene by Exekias).

Walters, H. B., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Great Britain 5, British Museum 4 (1929), III H e, Plate 71, 3a.

Side B:

Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Italy 26, Museo Nationale Tarquiniense 2 (undated), III H, Tavola 37, 2.

Giglioli, G. Q., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Italy 1, Villa Giulia 1 (undated), III H e, Tavola 5, 2.

Kunze-Götte, E., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Deutschland 32, München 7 (1970), Tafel 360, 2 (very similar similar vase and scene).

Kunze-Götte, E., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Deutschland 48, München 9 (1982), Tafel 44, 2 (similar vase and scene with one warrior between attendants).