Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T13:02:37.936Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Technological Development of Decorated Corinthian Pottery, 8th to 6th Centuries BCE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2015

Jay A. Stephens ,
Pamela B. Vandiver ,
Stephen A. Hernandez  and
David Killick
Jay A. Stephens
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
Pamela B. Vandiver
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 86721 USA
Stephen A. Hernandez
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 86721 USA
David Killick
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
Get access

Abstract

Polychrome slipped and decorated pottery from Corinth, Greece, developed over two centuries from monochrome, dark brown slips and washes on a calcareous yellow clay body to a wide range of decorative techniques. Once significant experimentation with color variability began, five colors, each with various levels of gloss, were produced. Some slip colors involve multiple-step processing to control glass content and degree of sintering; the control of particle size to produce variable roughness and a matte or semi-matt or glossy appearance. Considerable evidence supports nearly continuous development and engineering of the ceramic slips, although no data support the improvement in composition or processing of the ceramic bodies. For instance, significant macro-porosity consistently is present in the bodies. We present the results of study of 27 sherds with 59 examples of Corinthian polychrome paint layers, measuring 5 to 35 microns in thickness, that were collected by Marie Farnsworth in the late 1950s and 1960s from Greek archaeological sites. Black, red, white, wine red (or purple) and overlying, matte banded slips and paints were studied by optical microscopy, petrographic and scanning-electron microscopy with semi-quantative energy dispersive x-ray analysis, as well as wavelength-dispersive electron microprobe (EPMA) elemental mapping and analysis.

Keywords

archaeologyceramicchemical composition
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1656: Symposium PP – Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology X , 2014 , pp. 233 - 250
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Cook, Robert M., Greek Painted Pottery, London: Methuen, 1972, p. 42–56.Google Scholar
Mee, C., Greek Archaeology: A Thematic Approach, Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.10.1002/9781444395440CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasmussen, Thomas, “Corinth and the Orientalising Phenomenon” Looking at Greek Vases, Ed. Rasmussen, Tom and Spivey, Nigel Jonathan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, p. 58–67.Google Scholar
Robertson, Martin, A History of Greek Art, London: Cambridge University Press, 1975, p. 25–26,and M. Robertson, The Art of Vase Painting in Classical Antiquity, Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.Google Scholar
Schaus, Gerald, “The Beginning of Greek Polychrome Painting,” Journal of Hellenic Studies, cviii, 1988, p. 107 – 117.10.2307/632634CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boardman, John, “The Orientalizing Style” in Boardman, J., Early Greek Vase Painting: 11th-6th Centuries B.C.: A Handbook, New York: Thames and Hudson, 1998, p. 86–87.Google Scholar
Farnsworth, Marie, “Coloring Agents for Greek Glazes,” American Journal of Archaeology, 67(4), 1963, p. 389–396.10.2307/501622CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farnsworth, M. “Corinthian Pottery: Technical Studies,” American Jour. of Archaeology, 74(1), 1970, p. 9–20.10.2307/502899CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farnsworth, M., “Greek Pottery: A Mineralogical Study,” Am. Jour. of Arch., 68(3), 1964, p. 221–228.10.2307/502385CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, Charles, personal communication, July, 1989.Google Scholar
Vandiver, P.B. and Koehler, C.G., “Structure, Processing, Properties, and Style of Corinthian Transport Amphoras,” in Technology and Style, vol. ll, Ceramics and Civilization, ed. Kingery, W.D. and Lense, E., Columbus, OH: American Ceramic Society, 1986, p. 173–217.Google Scholar
Whitbred, Ian K., “Clays of Corinth: The Study of a Basic Resource for Ceramic Production,” Corinth, 20, 2003, p. 1–13.10.2307/4390713CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Cyril S., Seventy Two Objects Illustrating the Nature of Discovery, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, and the Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1980.Google Scholar
Aloupi-Siotis, E., “Recovery and Revival of Attic Vase Decoration Techniques. What can it offer to archaeological research?” in Papers on The Colors of Clay, The J.P. Getty Publications, 2009 Google Scholar
Maniatis, Y., Aloupi, E., and Stalios, A.D., “New Evidence for the Nature of the Attic Black Gloss,” Archaeometry 35(1), 1993, p. 23–34.10.1111/j.1475-4754.1993.tb01021.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingery, David, “Attic Pottery Gloss Technology,” Archeomaterials 5(1), 1991, p. 47–54 Google Scholar
Binns, Charles F., and Fraser, A. D.. "The Genesis of the Greek Black Glaze." American Journal of Archaeology. 33(1), 1929, p. 1–9.10.2307/497642CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bimson, Mavis. "The Technique of Greek Black and Terra Sigillata Red." The Antiquaries Journal 36(3-4), 1956, p. 200–204.10.1017/S0003581500061096CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vickers, M., “Silver, Copper and Ceramics in Ancient Athens.” In: Vickers, M.J. (ed.): Pots & Pans: A Colloquium on Precious Metals and Ceramics in the Muslim, Chinese and Graeco-Roman Worlds, Oxford; Oxford: Oxford University Press for the Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies University of Oxford, 1985, p. 137–151.Google Scholar
Vickers, M., “The Cultural Context of Ancient Greek Ceramics: An Essay in Skeuomorphism.” In: McGovern, P.E., Notis, M.D. & Kingery, W. (eds.): Cross-Craft and Cross-Cultural Interactions in Ceramics, Westerville, OH: American Ceramic Society, 1989, p. 45–63.Google Scholar
Stephens, Jay A., “Technical Analysis and Replication of Corinthian Polychrome Slips, 8th to 6th Centuries BCE”, senior thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, May 2014, 83 pp.Google Scholar