[734]. For the Mycenaean “false amphora,” a variation of the askos, see p. [271] and Plate [XV].
[735]. See Chapter [XI]. for a general discussion of the subject, and Chapter [V]. for its technical aspect.
[736]. B.M. Cat. of Terracottas, D 204 ff.
[737]. See p. [88]; also B.M. Cat. of Terracottas, D 1–2; Röm. Mitth. 1897, p. 262.
[738]. Cat. of Terracottas, D 209–10.
CHAPTER V
TECHNICAL PROCESSES
Nature of clay—Places whence obtained—Hand-made vases—Invention of potter’s wheel—Methods of modelling—Moulded vases and relief-decoration—Baking—Potteries and furnaces—Painted vases and their classification—Black varnish—Methods of painting—Instruments and colours employed—Status of potters in antiquity.
In this chapter we propose to deal with the various technical processes required for the manufacture of painted vases, that being of all the methods of working in clay employed by the Greeks the most important, and thus, as already implied, forming the main branch of our subject. These vases show, in fact, the highest point of perfection to which the ceramic art attained.
In the making of Greek vases we can distinguish four separate stages: (1) Preparation of the clay; (2) Modelling (a) on the wheel, (b) by hand, or (c) from a mould; (3) Baking; (4) Painting, glazing, and other decoration. The last-named is not absolutely essential, i.e. a vase, especially one for ordinary daily use, may be considered complete without it. Further, the three first stages are practically the same at all periods of Greek art, whereas the systems of painting and decoration are subject to local variations and chronological development. For the purposes of the present chapter it is sufficient to consider only those vases which have undergone the complete process of manufacture, or what are known for the purposes of study as “Painted Greek Vases.”