Information about Black Figure Pottery
The black-figure pottery(Greek,'μελανόμορφα,melanomorpha) technique is a style of ancient Greek pottery painting in which the decoration appears as black silhouettes on a red background. Originating in Corinth during the early 7th century BC, it was introduced into Attica about a generation later. Other notable black-figure potteries existed at Sparta and in eastern Greece. The technique flourished until being practically replaced by the more advanced red-figure pottery technique in 530 BC, although later examples do exist.
Apart from black, other colours could be used by modifying the characteristics of the clay used to paint the vase. The most common was a yellowish-white derived from a purified iron-free clay, and a purplish-red derived from the same refined clay used to produce the black areas mixed with ochre (red iron oxide) and water.
The Corinthians originally used black-figure pottery to depict animal friezes until the mid-6th century BC, when the great Athenian painters developed a sophisticated style of narrative decoration depicting subjects such as battle scenes, mythical beings and legendary episodes.
Black-figure pottery typically depicted figures in silhouette, but it was somewhat limited in artistic scope due to the limitations of engraving tools. Only a few painters are known by name, though many black-figure vases have been grouped on the basis of painting style and appear to be the work of distinct individuals or workshops. The most famous named painter is Exekias, a vase painter of the 6th century BC who is best known for his battle scenes.
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Altogether there are sixteen known iron oxides.[1] These compounds are either oxides (Wüstite, Hematite, β-Fe2O3, Maghemite, γ-Fe2O
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Manufacturing techniques
Attic vases were made of a pale iron-rich clay which turned a reddish-orange colour when fired, Corinthian and other fabrics had a creamy-white reserve colour. The design was sketched in outline, then filled in using refined clay as paint. Details would be added with an engraving tool, scratching through the paint layer to the clay below. The vessel would then be fired in a kiln at a temperature of about 800°C, with the resultant oxidization turning the vase to a reddish-orange colour. The temperature was then raised to about 950°C with the kiln's vents closed and green wood being added to remove the oxygen. The vessel then turned an overall black. The final stage required the vents to be re-opened to allow oxygen into the kiln, which was allowed to cool down. The vessel then returned to its reddish-orange colour due to renewed oxidization, while the now-sintered painted layer remained the glossy black colour created in the second stage.Apart from black, other colours could be used by modifying the characteristics of the clay used to paint the vase. The most common was a yellowish-white derived from a purified iron-free clay, and a purplish-red derived from the same refined clay used to produce the black areas mixed with ochre (red iron oxide) and water.
Styles and subjects

Scene from a black-figure amphora from Athens (6th century BC, Paris)
The Corinthians originally used black-figure pottery to depict animal friezes until the mid-6th century BC, when the great Athenian painters developed a sophisticated style of narrative decoration depicting subjects such as battle scenes, mythical beings and legendary episodes.
Black-figure pottery typically depicted figures in silhouette, but it was somewhat limited in artistic scope due to the limitations of engraving tools. Only a few painters are known by name, though many black-figure vases have been grouped on the basis of painting style and appear to be the work of distinct individuals or workshops. The most famous named painter is Exekias, a vase painter of the 6th century BC who is best known for his battle scenes.
Famous black-figure potters
See also
- List of Greek Vase Painters#Black Figure Period
- Pottery of Ancient Greece
- Red-Figure Pottery
References
- J.D.Beazley ''The Development of Attic Black-Figure
- J.D. Beazley, Attic Black-figure vase painters, London, 1956
- J. Boardman, Athenian Black Figure Vases, London, 1974
- D. Williams, Greek Vases, London, 1985
- P. Arias, M. Hirmer, History of Greek Vase Painting, 1962.
- J. D. Beazley, Potter and Painter in Ancient Athens, 1944.
- J. D.Beazley, Paralipomena, 1971.
- H. Payne, Necrocorinthia, 1931.
- D. A. Amyx, Corinthian Vase Painting of the Archaic Period, 3 vols, 1988.
Pottery of ancient Greece | |
|---|---|
| Wine Shapes | Krater • Kylix • Oenochoe • Skyphos • Psykter • Kyathos • Rhyton • Kantharos • Askos • Kotyle |
| Perfume Shapes and Wedding Shapes | Lebes Gamikos • Loutrophoros • Epinetron • Alabastron • Aryballos • Lekythos |
| Funerary Shapes and Cultic Shapes | Lekythos • Loutrophoros • Phiale |
| Storage Shapes | Amphora • Lebes • Pithos • Stamnos |
| Techniques | Red-figure • Black-figure • Bilingual pottery • Six's technique |
| Painters | List of Greek Vase Painters• Amasis Painter • Exekias • Pioneer Group • Douris • Meidias Painter |
| Special Topics in Greek Pottery | Typology • Kalos inscription • Symposium • Corpus vasorum antiquorum • John Beazley • Panathenaic Amphorae • South Italian |
Greek may refer to anything related to Greece, including Greek culture and Greek history. It may also refer to:
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Thanks to its hardy nature, pottery bulks large in the archaeological record of Ancient Greece, and because we have so much of it (some 100,000 vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum) it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek
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silhouette is a view of some object or scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior. The word is an eponym named after Etienne de Silhouette, a finance minister of Louis XV who in 1759 imposed such harsh economic demands upon the French people that his name became
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- 700 BC to 600 BC — Baudhayana Sulbasutra, an orally transmitted Vedic Sanskrit text on altar construction, contains the earliest extant verbal statement of the
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Attica (Greek: Αττική, Attiki) is a periphery (subdivision) in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. Attica is subdivided into the prefectures of Athens, Piraeus, East Attica and West Attica.
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3, 4, 6
(amphoteric oxide)
Electronegativity 1.83 (Pauling scale)
Ionization energies
(more) 1st: 762.5 kJmol−1
2nd: 1561.9 kJmol−1
3rd: 2957 kJmol−1
Atomic radius 140 pm
Atomic radius (calc.
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(amphoteric oxide)
Electronegativity 1.83 (Pauling scale)
Ionization energies
(more) 1st: 762.5 kJmol−1
2nd: 1561.9 kJmol−1
3rd: 2957 kJmol−1
Atomic radius 140 pm
Atomic radius (calc.
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Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold or steel are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing
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Kilns are thermally insulated chambers, or ovens, in which a controlled temperature regimes are produced. They are used to harden, burn or dry materials. Specific uses include:
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Beta oxidation is the process by which fatty acids, in the form of Acyl-CoA molecules, are broken down in the mitochondria and/or in peroxisomes to generate Acetyl-CoA, the entry molecule for the Krebs Cycle.
Occurs in mitochondrial matrix.
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Sintering is a method for making objects from powder, by heating the material (below its melting point) until its particles adhere to each other. Sintering is traditionally used for manufacturing ceramic objects, and has also found uses in such fields as powder metallurgy.
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Ochre or Ocher (pronounced /'əʊ.kə(r)/, from the Greek ὠχρός, yellow) is a color, usually described as golden-yellow or light yellow brown.
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Altogether there are sixteen known iron oxides.[1] These compounds are either oxides (Wüstite, Hematite, β-Fe2O3, Maghemite, γ-Fe2O
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Exekias (Εξηκίας, a Greek name) or Execias (Latinization) was an ancient Greek vase-painter and potter, who worked between approximately 550 BC - 525 BC at Athens. The pottery, however, was exported to other regions, such as Etruria.
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The 6th century BC started the first day of 600 BC and ended the last day of 501 BC.
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Sophilos worked circa 590-580 BC. His most famous pot was a dinos (a large pot used to mix wine and water at dinner parties, or symposia) upon which was depicted the wedding of Peleus and the nymph Thetis (who later became the parents of the famous Greek hero
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Andokides (Greek: Ανδοκίδης) was a famous potter of Ancient Greece. The painter of his pots was an anonymous artist, the Andokides Painter, who is recognized as the creater of the red-figure
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Exekias (Εξηκίας, a Greek name) or Execias (Latinization) was an ancient Greek vase-painter and potter, who worked between approximately 550 BC - 525 BC at Athens. The pottery, however, was exported to other regions, such as Etruria.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
6th century BC - 5th century BC
580s BC 570s BC 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC 530s BC 520s BC
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Thanks to its hardy nature, pottery bulks large in the archaeological record of Ancient Greece, and because we have so much of it (some 100,000 vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum) it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek
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Thanks to its hardy nature, pottery bulks large in the archaeological record of Ancient Greece, and because we have so much of it (some 100,000 vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum) it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek
..... Click the link for more information.
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