On one point scholars are in general agreement—namely, that Ionic art is a direct survival of Mycenaean. This was recognised as long ago as 1879 by Furtwaengler[[1083]] and by Lenormant,[[1084]] who pointed out that the silver cauldron dedicated by King Alyattes at Delphi must have been quite Mycenaean in character, although not earlier than the seventh century. It was decorated with aquatic animals and plants. There was in Ionia no disturbing element, such as the Dorian invasion introduced into Europe, between Mycenaean culture and the spread of Oriental influences. The Greek cities in Ionia owe their origin to that upheaval, but their culture was not affected by it; and their founders brought their Mycenaean civilisation with them fresh from Greece to their new homes in Miletos, Ephesos, Phocaea, Chios, and Samos. This was in the eleventh and tenth centuries B.C., and the Panionion, or union of Ionian cities, lasted down to the sixth century (when it was broken up by the Persian invasion), besides stretching out its feelers over the Mediterranean, to the Egyptian Delta and elsewhere. The actual centres of pottery-manufacture are not, however, easy to determine, and much may depend on the results of future excavations. That there was more than one is fairly obvious, and it will probably appear that Clazomenae, Miletos, and perhaps Phocaea, played the most important parts.

As regards the characteristics of the Ionian wares, a rough division may be made into two classes, corresponding to the buff-clay and red-clay Corinthian wares respectively. In the earlier, the vases are always covered with a creamy-white or drab-coloured slip, on which the figures stand out in lustrous black paint.[[1085]] The most typical fabric is that of the Rhodian wares, found in such large quantities in that island, but not necessarily made there. In the later group the place of the white slip is taken by a red coating or glaze similar to that of the Attic and later Corinthian wares, but somewhat brighter.

The principal subdivisions may be classified as follows (the arrangement is M. Pottier’s, with one or two small differences):—

I. 1. Rhodian wares.[[1086]]

2. Samian and “Fikellura” wares.[[1087]]

3. Asia Minor fabrics:

(a) Caria.[[1088]]

(b) Knidos.[[1089]]

(c) Larissa.[[1090]]

(d) Myrina.[[1091]]