The Early Black-Figured Pottery of Attika in Context (c. 630–570 BCE) by Alexandra Alexandridou (review)

In The Early Black-Figured Pottery of Attika in Context (c. 630–570 BCE), Alexandridou (henceforward A.) concentrates on the formative stage of Attic black-figure pottery production, the sixty or so years after the adoption of the style ca. 630 bc. Traditional concerns in vase-painting studies—shape, attribution, iconography—are joined by discussions of distribution, find spots, and functions, to give an overall view of the production and use of pottery in Attica during this early period. The book appears to be based on A.’s doctoral dissertation for Oxford, but whether it is the original or a revised version is not stated. A search through Oxford’s websites does connect A. with a dissertation bearing this title.

A brief first chapter lays out the goal of the work: to examine, as comprehensively as possible given the state of the evidence, the earliest Attic black-figure pottery, and then to use the results to draw conclusions about contemporaneous Attic society. A. follows these introductory comments with an overview of the history of black-figure studies, focussing especially on the discoveries and treatments of early black figure. She positions her work as extending that of scholars such as Osborne 1989 and Whitley 1994, who used Protoattic pottery to shed light on seventh-century Attic society.

The shapes and uses of vases are the main subjects of the second chapter. That one can discuss functions with some degree of confidence, A. contends, is a result of known archaeological contexts for most of the material. The shapes have been grouped by function: mixing, pouring, drinking, transport, and small-scale storage of oil, perfumes, and cosmetics. For each shape there is coverage of its history and development; some have Protoattic and Attic Geometric predecessors, others are based on Corinthian models. In the conclusion A. examines Corinthianising aspects of the shapes, especially with regard to sympotic vases, and sympotic, dedicatory, and funerary uses of the vases.

The term “function” is used rather broadly in this chapter, standing for both the potential everyday use of a shape, as seen in the organization of the shape-discussions, and for a vase’s final use as determined by archaeological context. A clearer separation of these two areas would have been helpful. Within some of her discussions of shape, A. does touch briefly on the broader question of the range of uses for any given shape; whether a vase had several ‘lives’ or was produced and/or obtained specifically for a dedicatory or funerary purpose is important. This topic could have been explored at greater length.

The third chapter is concerned with the vase-painters. The late seventh century seems a time of small-scale production for local needs, with comparatively few individually identifiable painters or workshops. A. suggests that many of the vases that ended up in funerary or sanctuary contexts may have been specially commissioned. The industry expanded in the early sixth century. More workers seem to have entered the trade, more of their products have survived; the identification of individual painters’ hands becomes easier. The concluding section examines the migration of pottery workers into, and out of, Athens and Attica. A. reasonably argues that Corinthianising elements in early sixth-century Attic work reflect immigrant craftsmen as much as imported prototypes; there are, for example, vases of Attic clay painted by Corinthians.

Iconography is the subject of the fourth chapter. The majority of the preserved vases carry animals and/or animal friezes, but some mythological and other themes do survive: various heroes, parts of the Trojan Cycle, some deities, some mythological figures, and some genre scenes. Developments within each theme are surveyed within the discussions of the early black-figure examples. Overall the late seventh-century vases continued the Protoattic tradition of monumentality; this ended with the century, and smaller-scale friezes took over. Existing iconographic themes continued, supplemented by new ones including Corinthian-sourced...