History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman. Volume 2 (of 2) by Walters et al.

RED WARE (POLLEDRARA TOMB) (BRITISH MUSEUM). ] ------------------------------------------------------ In the Regulini-Galassi tomb the pottery takes the form of large caldrons of red glazed ware, which mark a transitional stage between the _impasto_ and _bucchero_. They are characterised by the large Gryphons’ heads projecting in relief round the sides, to which are attached chains. Sometimes they are supported on high open-work stands. In 1892 the British Museum acquired a series of these and similar vases (Plate LVI.), including some plain specimens of _bucchero_ ware from early tombs at Civita Castellana (Falerii: see Vol. I. p. 75). * * * * * =Bucchero ware.=—This may be called the national pottery of Etruria. Its technique is not at present perfectly known, and analysis does not show certainly whether the black paste is natural or artificial. Modern experiments have been made which seem to indicate that this result may be obtained by fumigating or smoking the clay in a closed chamber after the baking, which process blackens the clay throughout.[2297] But M. Pottier[2298] thinks that the black surface was obtained not by fumigation of the vase, but by applying a slip of pounded charcoal already smoked, which at a moderate temperature would permeate the clay. The surface was then covered with wax and resin, and polished, like the Polledrara hydria. A combination of analyses of the paste made by Brongniart[2299] gives the following result: Silica 60-70 parts. Clay earth 12-16 ” Carbonate of lime 2-4 ” Magnesia 1-2 ” Water 8-10 ” Carbon 1 -3 ” The oldest _bucchero_ vases go back to the tombs _a fossa_ of the end of the seventh century. They are small and hand-made, ornamented, if at all, with geometric patterns, incised. The engraving was done by a sort of toothed wheel or a sharp tool; more rarely, hollowed out in grooves. Obviously the process is an imitation of metal engraving. Oriental influence soon appears, first of all in the chalice-shaped cups found at Cervetri, the surface of which is covered with figures of lions, deer, etc., in Oriental style. Both form and decoration are derived from metallic prototypes. The projecting Gryphons’ heads mentioned above are also typical of this class. In tombs of 560-500 B.C., along with Corinthian vases, a different type occurs, the vases being wheel-made, of light and elegant forms—cups, chalices, pyxides, amphorae, and jugs.[2300] The ornament is in the form of reliefs, either stamped from a cylinder on a narrow band, as in the red ware from Caere (see p. 292), or composed of a series of medallions separately modelled or made from moulds and stuck on. This, again, is an imitation of metal. Examples of these types are given in Plate LVII. figs. 1-3, 5. The subjects are not very varied. They range from animals such as stags and lions, or monsters such as Sphinxes and Centaurs, to winged deities, suppliants with offerings before deities, and other mythological figures—Chimaera, the Asiatic Artemis, or the Minotaur. Egyptian masks are also common. Episodes of hunts or banquets occur,[2301] and also groups of figures in meaningless juxtaposition. Some vases have only curvilinear patterns, such as palmettes, all of a vegetable rather than a geometrical type. In this group the general tendency is rather Hellenic than Oriental, especially towards Ionian art.[2302] This is only a temporary phase, and is practically confined to Cervetri, Veii, and Corneto—_i.e._ the maritime region in which the Corinthian vases are found. ------------------------------------------------------ PLATE LVII [Illustration: ETRUSCAN BLACK WARE: HUT-URN AND BUCCHERO (BRITISH MUSEUM). ] ------------------------------------------------------ At Chiusi an extraordinary development is manifested, which gradually obtained a monopoly. The city was far from the sea and Hellenic influences, and retained Oriental traditions. After the end of the sixth century all the varieties of _bucchero_ were fused into one type, which lasted down to the end of the fourth century.[2303] The shapes include amphorae, trefoil-mouthed oinochoae, various forms of cups, bowls with raised handles and ladles (kyathi), table-utensils, basins imitating metal forms, braziers, and vases in the form of birds or fishes. They are ornamented with reliefs from top to bottom, the subjects being much the same as in the last group. The tops or covers are often in the form of female or cows’ heads, or surmounted by birds (cf. Plate LVII. fig. 5). The figures and ornaments are stamped in from moulds and fixed by some adhesive medium, incised designs being inserted to fill up the spaces. These reliefs are never found earlier than the period of Attic importations. The subjects are derived as before from Greek, Egyptian, and Assyrian sources, the Oriental types being so much combined that they must evidently have come through the Phoenicians. Among the Greek subjects we find Theseus and the Minotaur, Perseus and the Gorgons, Pegasos and the Chimaera, warriors, etc. The animals and the four-winged figures are Assyrian in type, while Egypt supplies such types as Ptah, Anubis, and other animal-headed deities, and the female heads on the so-called Canopic jars. There are here no signs of inventive genius. The technique is purely native, but all is founded on foreign models.[2304] The shapes are those of Ionia and the coast of Asia or of Athens. On the other hand, the development of the technique from the Villanuova pottery is certainly apparent. The Greeks, indeed, tried to imitate it at times, and _bucchero_ ware is found at Rhodes and Naukratis. We may fairly lay down that Etruscan invention is limited to the perfecting of the technique and the combination of the borrowed elements and art-forms. Many of the flat reliefs seem to be copied from ivories, and the rounded reliefs are certainly from bronze _repoussé_ work; in some cases we find traces of gilding, silvering, and colour, which have been intended to reproduce the appearance of metal. Again, in many respects the _bucchero_ vases are merely the counterparts of works in bronze, as in the case of the braziers and the bowl with Caryatid supports given in Plate LVII. fig. 2.[2305] In short, they reproduce for us what is wanting in our knowledge of early Greek metal ware.[2306] There seem to be some references to this early black ware in the Roman poets, for Juvenal[2307] mentions it as being in use in the time of Numa: “Who dared then,” he says, “to ridicule the ladle (_simpuvium_) and black saucer of Numa?” Persius[2308] styles it _Tuscum fictile_, and Martial[2309] imagines Porsena to have been quite content with his dinner-service of Etruscan earthenware. * * * * * A peculiarly Etruscan type of vase which deserves some separate attention is that known as the Canopic jar, resembling the so-called κάνωποι in which the Egyptians placed the bowels of their mummies.[2310] These Etruscan _canopi_ are rude representations of the human figure, the heads, which are often attired in Egyptian fashion, forming the covers. The eyes are sometimes inlaid, and the female heads have large movable earrings and other adornments. In the tombs it was customary to place these vases on round chairs of wood, bronze, or terracotta. An example may be seen in the Etruscan Room of the British Museum, where the chair is plated with bronze, covered with archaic designs in _repoussé_ relief,[2311] and another is shown in Fig. 181. Similar chairs were discovered in the _Tomba delle Sedie_ at Cervetri; but the Canopic jars are almost confined to Chiusi. The type finds a parallel in the so-called “owl-vases” from the second city at Hissarlik (Vol. I. p. 258), in which the same combination of the vase-form with the human figure is to be observed. The lower portion of the jar was intended to receive the ashes of the dead, like the _ossuaria_, this method of placing the mortal remains of a person within a representation of himself being peculiarly Egyptian. Signor Milani[2312] has traced the origin of the Canopic jars to the funeral masks placed over the faces of the dead, which are sometimes found in the earliest Etruscan tombs. This practice may have been derived from Mycenae, where Schliemann found gold masks in the shaft-tombs of the Agora; but in Etruria the examples are all in bronze, except a few of terracotta.[2313] A gradual transition can be observed from the mask, at first placed on the corpse and then attached to the urn containing its ashes, to the head fashioned in the round and assimilated with the cover; while in later times a further transition may be observed from the vase with human head to the complete human figure. Finally, its place was taken by the reclining effigies on the covers of the sarcophagi (p. 320). The earliest jars are found in the _pozzo_ tombs of the eighth century, the evolution of the head modelled in the round being accomplished by the seventh century, and the archaic types last down to about 550 B.C., when the severe perfected style comes in, to be succeeded by the free style of the fifth century, after which time the Canopic jars cease to be manufactured. [Illustration: From _Mus. di ant. class._ FIG. 181. CANOPIC JAR IN CHAIR PLATED WITH BRONZE. ] The types are both male and female throughout, the latter being usually distinguished by wearing earrings and necklaces. Towards the end of the series the handles are gradually converted into rudimentary arms, and finally into fully developed human arms, sometimes holding attributes. They are probably placed on chairs as emblems of the power and authority which the deceased enjoyed during his life. In the Berlin Museum[2314] there is a remarkable example of the sixth century in which the jar is placed on a chair of the same clay, covered with _graffito_ ornamental designs and figures of animals. The jars are always made of a plain red unglazed clay, and are uncoloured. In the British Museum[2315] there are two seated female figures on detached square bases, wearing bright red chitons and large circular earrings, which seem to represent the period of transition from the jar to the sarcophagus, the style in which they are modelled being that of the fifth century. Some of the later examples have strongly individualised features, and seem to be genuine portraits; it is possible that they are actually from moulds taken from the faces of the dead. (5) PERIOD OF GREEK INFLUENCE; PAINTED POTTERY Although the Etruscans executed such admirable works in bronze, exercised with such skill the art of engraving gems, and produced such refined specimens of filagree-work in gold, they never attained to high excellence in their pottery. The vases already described belong to plastic rather than pictorial art, and are mostly imitations of work in metal. Down to the end of the sixth century B.C. their attempts at painting vases have been, as we have seen, limited practically to two fabrics, the Polledrara ware and the Caere jars with paintings in a similar technique. These methods have, however, nothing in common with Greek vase-paintings of the ordinary kind on a glazed surface, a method which was never popularised in Etruria. The total failure of the Etruscans in vase-painting finds a curious parallel in their sculpture; all their best work is to be sought in their engraving or figures in low relief, as in the mirrors and _cistae_. Yet the same mirrors and _cistae_ show clearly that it was from no lack of ability in drawing that they failed; wherefore it is the less easy to understand, not only the absence of all originality in their painted vases, but also the rarity of instances of their imitative tendencies in this respect. Apparently the red-figured vases which were imported into Etruria in such large numbers in the fifth century served as prototypes, not for their paintings, but for the engraved mirrors to which we have alluded. It may have been that they shrank from the task so successfully achieved by Greek painters of suitably decorating the curved surfaces of a vase, and preferred the flat even surfaces supplied by the circular mirrors and the sides of the _cistae_. Moreover, the interior designs of the kylikes, perfected by Epiktetos, Euphronios, and their contemporaries, served as obvious models for disposing a design in a circular space; and they had in the subjects of the vases a mythological repertory ready to hand. It now remains to be seen to what extent they actually were influenced in their pottery by the imported Greek vases. For considerably over a century painted pottery, at all times rare in Etruria, is practically unrepresented in the tombs except by Greek importations, Corinthian, Ionic, and Attic; the only local attempts in this direction are the Polledrara and Cervetri vases. As we have seen, early Corinthian vases appear in the _fossa_ tombs, and later Corinthian in the chamber tombs, in which, towards the middle of the sixth century, the Attic B.F. fabrics begin to make their appearance. The latest developments of the Corinthian wares are, indeed, almost unrepresented, but their place is taken by what appear to be local imitations of the Corinthian vases, a large series of which was found at Cervetri, and now forms part of the Campana collection in the Louvre. These are, however, for the most part certainly Greek, being presumably made by the Greek settlers in that town—at any rate, an Etruscan origin cannot be proved for them.[2316] We have also seen that the Ionian fabrics exercised a great influence on Etruscan art, and this leads us to another series of vases found at Cervetri, the Caeretan hydriae discussed in Chapter VIII. Some years ago it was noticed by the late F. Dümmler[2317] that there were in many museums examples of a class of vases which stood in close relation to the Caeretan hydriae, yet were obviously a different fabric. Having collected and examined these vases, he was able to demonstrate satisfactorily that they were direct imitations by the Etruscans of the Caeretan hydriae,[2318] thereby proving at the same time that the latter were imported from other sources (_sc._ Ionia), and not, as had hitherto been supposed, themselves of Italian origin. It is not unlikely that the Ionic influence in Etruria is due to the Phocaean migration of 544 B.C.; on reaching Italy the Ionian fugitives would naturally hand on their art-traditions there. ------------------------------------------------------ PLATE LVIII [Illustration: ETRUSCAN IMITATIONS OF GREEK VASES (BRITISH MUSEUM).] ------------------------------------------------------ These Etruscan vases are not exclusively hydriae, some being amphorae, others kyathi; but they all bear the unmistakable stamp of Etruscan art in the drawing of the figures and other small details, such as the treatment of the incised lines. It will further be noticed that the drawing is in most cases quite free from archaism, figures being often drawn in full face or correct profile; and this consequently proves that they belong to a considerably later date than the fabrics which they imitate, although the figures are always in black on a red ground. The style in some cases is not unlike that of the later Panathenaic amphorae of the fourth century, and may also be compared with some of the bronze cistae from Palestrina. Accessory pigments are rare, and the incised lines are sketchy and careless; great prominence is given to the bands of ornament bordering the designs, this being a feature borrowed from the Caeretan hydriae. On a large amphora in the British Museum (B 64) the characteristic Caeretan band of lotos-flowers and palmettes is exactly reproduced, though in black instead of polychrome.[2319] Other typical ornaments are the maeander and chevrons; ivy-leaves and sprigs shooting up from the ground; lotos-buds, and wreaths of all kinds. The subjects are limited in range, and thoroughly Etruscan in feeling; Pegasi and beardless Centaurs with human forelegs, Bacchic subjects, and genre scenes, such as athletic contests, combats, or funeral ceremonies (Plate LVIII.), almost complete the list. The turned-up shoes and the pointed _tutuli_ worn by the women, as well as the physiognomy of the figures, with their receding foreheads, are all characteristically Etruscan, though the two former details are borrowed from Ionia.[2320] The shapes of the vases are heavy and inartistic, and the effect altogether unpleasing. A list of the principal examples is here appended.[2321] When at last the imitative instincts of the Etruscans did in course of time impel them to turn their fancy to copying the red-figured vases, we find the same characteristics reproduced. The number of such imitations is not large, but they are unmistakable, not only from the style, but from the pale yellow clay, dull black glaze, and bizarre character of the ornamentation. Nevertheless, in some cases fairly good results are obtained, as in the B.M. kylix F 478, which in its interior design at all events is an obvious attempt to imitate the work of the great Athenian kylix-painters. The artist seems to have learned his art from the school of Hieron and Brygos, but his Etruscan instincts are revealed in the over-elaboration and stiff mannerisms of the drawing. The Museum also possesses a very fine krater from Falerii (F 479), which appears to be an example of a local school,[2322] imitating the red-figured vases of the “fine” period and large style. But these comparatively successful imitations are exceptional. The other red-figured Etruscan vases are far inferior, and are executed in a style which none can fail to recognise. It is dry and lifeless in the extreme, the drawing helpless, and the whole effect repulsive and disagreeable, as is so often the case with Etruscan art. These vases are not earlier than the third century B.C., and may be later. In them we observe, besides Greek mythological subjects, the introduction of local deities such as Charun and Ker. The British Museum possesses some ten examples of this class, in addition to the two already described. The most interesting is a krater (F 480 = Plate LVIII.), with, on one side, the death of Aktaeon, designated by his Etruscan name _Ataiun_; on the other, Ajax, designated _Aifas_, throwing himself upon his sword, after the award of the armour of Achilles. Another vase of this class has for its subject the farewell of Admetos and Alkestis,[2323] with Etruscan inscriptions accompanying the figures, and a speech issuing from the mouth of one of them. Behind Admetos is one of the demons of the Etruscan hell, probably intended for Hades or Thanatos, wearing a short tunic and holding in each hand a snake. Behind Alkestis is Charun with his mallet. On another vase found at Vulci[2324] Ajax is represented slaying a Trojan prisoner in the presence of Charun; and on the reverse the latter appears again with Penthesileia and two other women. On a third[2325] Leda is represented showing Tyndareus the egg from which Helen and Klytaemnestra were destined to be born; it is inscribed _Elinai_, the Etruscan form of Helen. The latest specimens of these fabrics, which have been found at Orvieto and Orbetello, positively degenerate into barbarism[2326]; the figures are carelessly and roughly painted, and white is extensively used as an accessory, as in the later Apulian and Campanian vases. The subjects are usually borrowed from the infernal regions, and the gruesome figure of Charun is common. Inscriptions on Etruscan vases are rare as compared with Greek, and in many cases have only been scratched in after the vase was made. There are also instances of imported Greek vases on which Etruscan inscriptions have been incised in this manner, as in the case of a vase in the form of a lion in the British Museum (A 1137, from Veii), on which is incised [FΕΛΘΥΡ] [ἉΘΙΣΝΑΣ], _felthur hathisnas_. The earliest known are incised on plain pots of black ware, and several of these take the form of what are known as _abecedaria_, or alphabets. Strictly speaking, some of these alphabets are of Hellenic origin, and do not give the forms of the Etruscan letters as they are known to us; but as the latter are derived from the Greek (western group), probably through Cumae (see above, p. 295) these inscriptions would naturally represent their original forms in Etruria. In 1882 an amphora was discovered at Formello near Veii,[2327] on which this Greek alphabet is written twice from left to right, together with a retrograde Etruscan inscription, and a “syllabary” or spelling exercise. The alphabet is as follows: α, β, γ, δ, ε, ϝ, ζ, _h_, θ, ι, κ, λ, μ, ν, [samech,], ο, π, Ϻ, ϙ, ρ, σ, τ, υ, [X], φ, ψ. This is the most complete _abecedarium_ extant, containing twenty-six letters and illustrating the archaic Greek forms of the twenty-two Phoenician letters in their Semitic order. The four additional ones are υ, [X] ( = ξ), φ, and ψ ( = χ). The character [X] is the representative of _samech_, and is not found in Greek inscriptions; Ϻ is _shin_ or _san_ (cf. p. 247). The Caere alphabet, on a vase now in the Museo Gregoriano, is also combined with an Etruscan syllabary, consisting of such forms as _bi_, _ba_, _bu_, _be_, _gi_, _ga_, _gu_, _ge_, etc.[2328]; the alphabet resembles that from Formello, except for the omission of the ϙ, and the [san], of the same type, extending as far as ο, was found at Colle near Siena.[2329] On another small black jar also found at Caere, and now in the Museo Gregoriano,[2330] is incised an Etruscan inscription in two lines, in which also the letters are certainly early Greek rather than Etruscan; these two from Caere must be of the same date as the Regulini-Galassi tomb, about 650-600 B.C. [Illustration: FIG. 182. ETRUSCAN ALPHABET, FROM A VASE.] The two following, however, are genuine Etruscan _abecedaria_: one from the foot of a cup found at Bomarzo,[2331] on which the alphabet runs (retrograde): α, γ, ε, ϝ, ζ, η, θ, ι, λ , μ, ν, π, Ϻ, ρ, σ, τ, υ, φ, χ, φ, the other in the museum at Grosseto,[2332] in which the letters are practically the same, but with the addition of κ and ϙ. In the first named the form ζ for Z should be noted, and in both occur the _san_ and two forms of φ, which in Etruscan generally appears as [Etrusan phi]. Among other instances of early Etruscan inscriptions are that on the Louvre vase from Caere, with white paintings on red ground (D 151: see p. 294), which dates from the seventh century; and on objects from the Regulini-Galassi and Del Duce tombs (pp. 295, 300). They are, however, very rare on the pottery of the next two centuries, with the exception of those incised on the plain pottery, which bear no essential relation to the vase itself.[2333] These, as has been noted, are also found on imported Greek wares, one of the best instances being the kylix of Oltos and Euxitheos, at Corneto,[2334] on the foot of which is an inscription of thirty-eight letters not divided into words. Occasionally also painted inscriptions are found.[2335] When, however, we come to the imitation Greek vases of the third and second centuries, we find a curious reversion to the old Greek practice of inscribing the names of the figures and even sentences on the paintings themselves. Some of these have already been mentioned. The best example is afforded by the krater with Admetos and Alkestis, on which the names of the two principals are given as [ΑΤΜΙΤΕ], _Atmite_, and [ΑΛCΣΤΙ], _Alcsti_; while by the side of the figure of Charun is a long inscription 15[46]ΕΓΗ: 15[72]ΕΑΣΓΕ: 15[56]ΝΑΓ: 15[94]ΑΤΔΛΜ: 14[96]ΦΛΕΔΟΔΓΕ On the vase with Ajax and Penthesileia the names are given as [ΑΙFΑΣ], [ΨΑΔΥ], [ΠΕΝΤΑΣΙΛΑ], and [ἹΝΘΙΑΛ] [TYRMYGAS]. On a vase mentioned by Gerhard, Nike inscribes on a shield the word [ΑΝΣΑΛ], _Lasna_.[2336] § 2. ETRUSCAN TERRACOTTA WORK It remains to say a few words on the other uses of clay among the Etruscans. This subject has indeed been discussed to some extent in