Greek Vases of Hellenistic Period: Black Ware with Reliefs (British Museum).
In Italy the introduction of relief wares became general as painting was abandoned, but did so gradually, not suddenly. In the third century both existed side by side. The principle of a purely mechanical process in pottery, which now first appears in the manufacture from a mould, was not, strictly speaking, a new one in Italy, nor yet in Greece. It is first seen in the early Etruscan and Rhodian vases (see p. [496]) with stamped and rolled-out designs repeated in long friezes. And we shall see later how for several centuries moulded vases, in the form of bucchero ware, formed the national pottery of Etruria. There was always in Etruscan, as also in Greek pottery,[[1544]] a tendency towards the imitation of metal, and this tendency about the fourth century seems to have spread over the rest of Italy, even to the Iapygian Peninsula. Thus it is that the vases of Gnatia (p. [488]) are largely metallic in form and treatment, with their ribbed bodies and other details. To the same cause is mainly due the series of Capua and Cumae vases which has already been discussed, with its brilliant varnish and gilding. Signor Gamurrini actually gave to the Italian black glaze wares the name of “Etrusco-Campanian.”[[1545]] After the disappearance of bucchero ware similar vases came to be made at Cervetri, Chiusi, Corneto, and Bolsena, the principal art centres of Etruria. At Bolsena in particular they have been found in considerable numbers; and as this city (Volsinium novum) was only founded in 264 B.C., a terminus post quem for their date is afforded.
A group of vases found chiefly at the last-named place[[1546]] does not appear to have been covered with black varnish, but with a metallic preparation of gold or silver, which has now mostly disappeared, and they are left with the plain glazed clay. Some of these are not without merit. In the general arrangement of the designs, usually in friezes round the shoulder, there is obviously a reminiscence of bucchero ware. The metallic preparation with which they were covered may have been something of the kind which Athenaeus[[1547]] describes in speaking of certain drinking-cups made at Naukratis, which “were dipped [in some preparation] so as to appear silver.”
In Italy the manufacture of vases of black ware with reliefs appears to have centred at Cales in Campania during the third century.[[1548]] The principal type is that of a bowl, not of the hemispherical form, but shallow, with the designs in the interior, either in the form of a frieze or of a central medallion. These are usually called Calene phialae, but it is not certain whether the majority were really made at Cales. At all events, it is, like “Megarian bowl,” a convenient name for the class. The British Museum bowl G 118, with the frieze of chariots (see above), is a good example of the frieze type of design. The subject, which is treated in a very spirited manner, is the apotheosis of Herakles, who is conducted by Athena, Ares, and Artemis to Olympos, accompanied by Victories. There is also a good specimen in Berlin (Cat. 3882) with Odysseus and the Sirens. Another with decorative patterns only, bears the signature of the potter, L. Canoleios of Cales, in Latin letters.[[1549]] Examples are also given in Plate [XLVIII.], figs. 3, 5, 6.
Of the type with central medallions comparatively few complete examples exist, but the British Museum possesses a series of fragments on which the medallions have been preserved.[[1550]] The subjects are usually those characteristic of the Alexandrine period: Aphrodite, Adonis, and Erotes; Herakles and Hylas, and others familiar from Theocritus; or Trojan scenes, such as Thetis with the arms of Achilles or Paris attacked by Deiphobos. A unique instance is that of Romulus and Remus suckled by the wolf (G 125). Two names of potters occur—K. Atilius and G. Gabinius. The date of these phialae is probably that of the Second Punic War (about 230–200 B.C.). The designs, being taken from moulds[[1551]] and inserted separately, are frequently repeated. The fashion—obviously another instance of imitation of metal[[1552]]—of adorning bowls with central designs also takes other forms at this period. Simple heads of deities or Satyrs are found, and there are also instances of facsimiles of Syracusan coins. Two bowls in the British Museum (G 121–22) have in the centre copies of a decadrachm with the head of Persephone (Plate [XLVIII.], fig. 4: cf. p. [210]).[[1553]]
Analogous to these in character and technique are the series of small lamp-feeders or gutti, a variation of the askos form, which are found chiefly in Southern Italy, but also in North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean.[[1554]] In the latter case they are usually distinguished by having an arched handle over the back instead of the usual ring-handle at the side, and the body is flatter. The Italian type has a deep ribbed body, with a flat circular space on the top containing a design in relief, made separately and inserted in the vase (Plate [XLVIII.], fig. 1). The range of subjects is wide, but the majority are mythological: heads or masks of a Dionysiac character or of Medusa form a large proportion of the whole.
Larger vases of black ware with reliefs inserted or attached are sometimes found, but are not common. The British Museum possesses two good specimens—a krater (G 29) with panels inserted bearing mythological designs,[[1555]] and a large covered jar (G 28) with the inscription BASSVS in Roman letters, presumably the potter’s name. The subjects, in two friezes, represent Erotes and festoons of vine-leaves, and Poseidon and Victory, five times repeated.
The series of vases which we have been discussing are clearly paving the way for the new development of pottery which prevailed throughout the Roman period—that of the ware formerly known as Samian, but now usually spoken of as Arretine or (a more comprehensive term) Terra sigillata. This will of course be more appropriately dealt with in a subsequent chapter under the heading of Roman Pottery. In the course of the second century the Roman dominion spread over most of the Greek lands, and Greek art as an independent entity almost ceased to exist. It is, however, not a little remarkable at what a late date some forms of distinctively Greek pottery lingered on in Hellenic regions, such as Attica, Egypt, and Southern Russia. The subject has hitherto received but little attention, and the materials have hardly been collected with sufficient completeness to admit of adequate discussion and classification.[[1556]]