Apart from these, however, the principle did not find its way into Greece before the seventh century B.C., and then its origin is indubitably Oriental. It is best exemplified by the discoveries in Rhodes, especially at Kameiros,[[1501]] where vases of porcelain and terracotta are found modelled in the form of helmeted heads or heads of animals (see Plate [XLVI]., fig. 1, and p. [127]). The type adopted is that of the aryballos (p. [197]); it was no doubt a comparatively easy matter to model its spherical body into the form required, applying paint where necessary to bring out the details as on the vases. In the Western Mediterranean the alabastron form seems to have been more popular.[[1502]] It is often adopted for the Canopic vases of Etruria (see Chapter [XVIII].). Many of these are unpainted, or rather are covered with a white slip and then painted in tempera like the ordinary terracotta figures; they are, in fact, figurines in essence, vases by accident; whereas in the first-named group the vase idea retains the predominance. But it is almost impossible to draw the line. A fine early instance of imitation of metal in early Greek pottery is the British Museum jug from Aegina (A 457) terminating in the head of a Gryphon.
PLATE XLVI
Greek Vases Modelled in Various Forms (British Museum).
1, 6, Sixth Century; 2, 4, 5, Fifth Century; 3, Fourth Century.
During the sixth century painted figurine vases are rare, though there are not wanting various examples of the class just described, which belong to this period; but at all events hardly any examples can be traced to Athenian manufacture during the age of B.F. vase-painting. Towards the end of the century, however, the fashion was reintroduced by the potter Charinos, who belongs to the transitional period (about 525–500 B.C.). A vase signed by him, which was found at Corneto, is in the form of a female head surmounted by a kalathos.[[1503]] It was made in a mould like the terracotta figures, but the painted decoration, which is remarkably elaborate and minute, is entirely B.F. in character. The patterns on the head-dress include maeander, stars, ivy-leaves, lozenge and net patterns, and a minute frieze of animals, painted in black on the clay ground. A similar vase, but later in date, is in the Berlin Museum[[1504]]; in this example we may note the introduction of R.F. ornamentation, in the palmettes and diapering round the top.
These two stand at the head of a series of similar vases extending throughout the succeeding periods down to the end of the age of painted vases. They compare for style with the heads of the female statues found on the Acropolis, which belong to the same period. Two other potters, Kaliades and Prokles, made similar vases.[[1505]]
The fashion started by Charinos continued throughout the fifth century, but the plastic conception tended to become subordinate to the ceramic, and it became more and more customary to decorate the non-plastic portions in the manner of the vases. Of this development the most noteworthy example is the beautiful rhyton in the British Museum in the form of a Sphinx (E 788), the upper or vase part of which is ornamented with the subject of Kekrops and Erichthonios. The body of the Sphinx is covered with a fine white slip, and the details are picked out with red and gilding. This vase dates from about the middle of the century. There also exist many examples of rhyta or kanthari, formed of a head or two heads back to back, usually a Maenad and a Seilenos.[[1506]] Another favourite type is that of a jug in the form of a negro’s or Aethiopian’s head[[1507]]; and there are also rhyta which terminate in the head of a lion, mule, or other animal finely modelled (Plate [XLVI]., figs. 2, 5).
Towards the end of the fifth century there is a reversion to the purely plastic figure-vase, usually in the form of a lekythos with spherical body, to the front of which the figure is attached (Plate [XLVI]., fig. 4). The vase is usually covered with black glaze, and the figure with a white slip like the terracottas, with polychrome colouring. Examples of this class are the series of lekythi representing Aphrodite Anadyomene in a scallop-shell, of which there are examples at Athens and Petersburg,[[1508]] and the fine vase in the British Museum (E 716) with the bust of Athena Parthenos. A series of smaller lekythi, of which the British Museum possesses examples (G 2–7), represents Eros on a dolphin, the young Dionysos in a sort of canopy, Europa on the bull, a boy with a dog, and other subjects; the technique is similar to that of the larger specimens, with pink and green colouring. They form charming little objects, and are often well executed.[[1509]]