The striving after a gaudy effect by the use of polychrome decoration, and especially the employment of blue, a colour otherwise unknown in vase-painting before the end of the fifth century, finds a parallel in the sixth century poros-sculptures from the Athenian Acropolis, in which even more violent effects of colour are attained, as in the bright blue beard of the Triton. But in this case there seems little doubt that the idea is borrowed from Egypt, with its fondness for brightly decorated mummy-cases and bright blue images of faïence and porcelain. Other details which betray an Egyptian origin are the lions’ masks, the all-pervading lotos-flower, and the seated dog or jackal. The connecting link is no doubt the great trading centre of Naukratis, through whose agency the Egyptian scarabs, porcelain objects, and ostrich eggs found in this tomb also came to Etruria.
As a parallel to the Polledrara finds should here be cited the painted terracotta panels from Caere now in the British Museum and Louvre, which are certainly local products, and give a realistic representation of the Etruscan people. They are described below (p. [319]). These again, both in subject and style, lead to a comparison with the large Etruscan terracotta sarcophagi, of which the most remarkable is that in the British Museum.[[2291]] Here, as in the Polledrara bronze bust, the rude native attempts at sculpture in the round are combined with reliefs which successfully reflect the style of Ionic art. Lastly, we note another parallel in the paintings of animals on the walls of a tomb at Veii.[[2292]]
Mr. Cecil Smith sums up: “The Polledrara ware was probably local Italian, made at Caere under the combined influence of Ionian and Naukratite imports, acting on an artistic basis principally derived from Corinth.” Developed pari passu with the red impasto ware (of which a painted example was found in the Vulci tomb), it gradually gave way to the bucchero ware with which we deal in our next section. It only remains to note that similar ware has been found in Rhodes,[[2293]] where also later wares of a genuine bucchero type, unpainted, have come to light; and these appear to be instances of a counter-importation from Etruria to Asia Minor.
The only other piece of pottery from the Polledrara tomb which calls for special comment is one to which reference has just been made, a large pithos of the primitive impasto red ware, made on the wheel (Plate [LVI].). It falls into line with the painted and stamped fabrics from Caere already described (p. [292] ff.), and is, like the hydria, painted in polychrome, but the colours are much faded. The subjects are a frieze of animals and a ship.
Three other tombs which rival the Polledrara in size and importance are the Regulini-Galassi tomb at Caere,[[2294]] the Tomba del Duce at Vetulonia,[[2295]] and the Bernardini tomb at Praeneste.[[2296]] Although the finds of pottery herein were small, they are yet of great interest for the history of Etruscan art in general, especially as they afford evidence for approximate dating. In the two former Etruscan inscriptions were found. The Caere and Praeneste tombs are probably the earliest, about 650 B.C., and the Del Duce and Polledrara tombs are not later than the end of the seventh century.
PLATE LVI
Early Etruscan Pottery.
1. Cauldron and Stand of Red Ware from Falerii; 2. Painted Amphora of Red Ware (Polledrara Tomb)
(British Museum).