classical archaeology Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth-century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about i ...

, a name vase is a specific "

vase A vase ( or ) is an open container. It can be made from a number of materials, such as ceramics, glass, non-rusting metals, such as aluminium, brass, bronze, or stainless steel. Even wood has been used to make vases, either by using tree species ...

"In the study of

ancient Greek pottery Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has exe ...

a "vase" is a general term covering all pottery shapes. whose painter's name is unknown but whose workshop style has been identified. The painter is conventionally named after the selected "name vase" that embodies his characteristic style, or for one of its distinctive painted subjects, or for other attributes. The allocation of such names is necessary because the majority of

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

and South Italian vase painters did not sign their works. For discussion and analysis of the work and career of individual artists conventional names were needed in order to designate them. The name can refer to a vase's motif (the Meleager Painter), former owner (the

Shuvalov Painter The Shuvalov Painter was an Attic vase painter of the red-figure style, active between 440 and 410 BC, i.e. in the High Classical period (''Parthenon period''). The Shuvalov painter's conventional name was allocated by John Beazley, who chose ...

), present location (the

Baltimore Painter The Baltimore Painter was an Apulian vase painter whose works date to the final quarter of the 4th century BC. He is considered the most important Late Apulian vase painter, and the last Apulian painter of importance. His conventional name is deri ...

), find location (the

Dipylon Master The Dipylon Master was an ancient Greek vase painter who was active from around 760–750 BC. He worked in Athens, where he and his workshop produced large funerary vessels for those interred in the Dipylon Gate cemetery, whence his name comes. ...

), inscription, habitual potter (the Kleophrades Painter), shape, and so on. For

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

vases, the majority of such names were introduced by John D. Beazley, the first scholar to study them systematically; for

South Italian , altname = , states = Italy , region = Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, Marche, Molise , ethnicity = ''Mezzogiorno'' Ethnic Italians , speakers = 5.7 million , date ...

vases,

Arthur Dale Trendall Arthur Dale Trendall, (28 March 1909 – 13 November 1995) was a New Zealand art historian and classical archaeologist whose work on identifying the work of individual artists on Greek ceramic vessels at Apulia and other sites earned him in ...

played a similar role. Important painters given a

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...

based on a name vase include for example the

Painter of Berlin A 34 The Painter of Berlin A 34 was a vase painter during the pioneering period of Attic black-figure pottery. His real name is unknown, his conventional name derived from his name vase in the Antikensammlung Berlin. He is the first individual vase pain ...

, the

Nessos Painter The Nessos Painter, also known as Netos or Nettos Painter, was a pioneer of Attic black-figure vase painting. He is considered to be the first Athenian to adopt the Corinthian style who went on to develop his own style and introduced innovations ...

, the

Andokides Painter Andokides was an ancient Athenian vase painter, active from approximately 530 to 515 B.C. His work is unsigned and his true name unknown. He was identified as a unique artistic personality through stylistic traits found in common among several pai ...

, the

Antimenes Painter The Antimenes Painter was an Attic vase painter of the black-figure style, active between circa 530 and 510 BC. The real name of the Antimenes Painter is not known; his current name is an archaeological convention, derived from the Kalos ins ...

, the

Antiphon Painter The Antiphon Painter was an Athenian vase painter of the early 5th century BC. He owes his name to a double Kalos inscription of Antiphon on the dinos stand in the Antique collection of Berlin (Inventory number F 2325). He was active between 500 ...

, the

Berlin Painter The Berlin Painter (active c. 490–460s BCE) is the Notname, conventional name given to an Attica, Attic Ancient Greece, Greek vase-painter who is widely regarded as a rival to the Kleophrades Painter, among the most talented vase painters of t ...

, the

Bryn Mawr Painter The Bryn Mawr Painter is the name given to an Attic Greek red-figure vase painter, active in the late Archaic period (c. 500 – 480 BCE). Name artefact The Bryn Mawr Painter was named by Sir John Beazley for a plate in the Bryn Mawr College Ar ...

, and the

Pistoxenos Painter The Pistoxenos Painter was an important ancient Greek vase painter of the Classical period. He was active in Athens between c. 480 and 460 BC. Many vases have been attributed to his hand on the basis of style. John Beazley gave him the name ...

Notes

Ancient Greek vase painting {{Greek vase painting