A Nikosthenic amphora is a type of

Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a ''loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

vase invented in the late 6th century BC by the potter

Nikosthenes Nikosthenes was a potter of Greek black- and red-figure pottery in the time window 550–510 BC. He signed as the potter on over 120 black-figure vases, but only nine red-figure. Most of his vases were painted by someone else, called Painter ...

, aimed specifically for export to Etruria. Inspired by Etruscan

Bucchero Bucchero () is a class of ceramics produced in central Italy by the region's pre-Roman Etruscan population. This Italian word is derived from the Latin ''poculum'', a drinking-vessel, perhaps through the Spanish ''búcaro'', or the Portuguese ' ...

types, it is the characteristic product of the Nikosthenes-Pamphaios workshop. Characteristic features are the angular body of the amphora and the broad flat handles. The Etruscan predecessors were black-painted, whereas the Attic vases were decorated in the black-figure style. Nearly all know examples were found in Caere, while the majority of Nikosthenes products in other shapes were discovered in Vulci. This suggests that the type was specifically made for sale in or to Caere, which indicates that Nikosthenes must have been a gifted salesman and that an efficient system of intermediate traders must have existed. Niksothenes created or introduced several vase shapes, but the Nikosthenic amphora is his most famous innovation. The clay of the Nikosthenic amphorae is bright orange-red, and thus provides a perfect base for black-figure vase painting. Their decoration follows quite varied patterns. Sometimes, they are subdivided in two or three separate friezes, mostly of plant and animal motifs. In other cases, images cover the whole vase body. Apparently most, perhaps even all, Nikosthenic amphorae were painted by N Painter, which has been suggested to be identical with Nikosthenes. Production began around 530 to 520 BC and continued under Nikosthenes' successor Pamphaios – at that stage in the red-figure style – to cease between 500 and 490 BC.Production periods of different amphora shapes on Gießen University website
– here wrongly classified as belly amphorae.

Bibliography

* John Boardman: ''Schwarzfigurige Vasen aus Athen. Ein Handbuch'', Mainz 1977, p. 72 (Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt, Vol. 1) *

Thomas Mannack Thomas Mannack (born in 1958) is a German classical archaeologist. Mannack obtained his Doctorate in 1992 with at the University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-U ...

: ''Griechische Vasenmalerei. Eine Einführung''. Theiss, Stuttgart 2002, . * Wolfgang Schiering: ''Die griechischen Tongefässe. Gestalt, Bestimmung und Formenwandel''. 2. Auflage. Mann, Berlin 1983, p. 37f., 46–48, 152 (Gebr.-Mann-Studio-Reihe) .

References

External links

{{Greek amphorae Ancient Greek pot shapes Amphorae