| The pottery of ancient Greece is one of the most | | | | vases". Many of these pots are mass produced |
| tangible and iconic elements of ancient Greek art. The | | | | products of low quality. In fact, by the 5th century |
| colorful vases and pots of the ancient Greeks have | | | | BC, pottery had become an industry and pottery |
| survived in large numbers and are today highly prized | | | | painting ceased to be an important art form of |
| as collectors items. | | | | ancient Greece. |
| Ancient Greeks made pottery for everyday use, not | | | | The history of ancient Greek pottery is divided |
| for display, the trophies won at games such as the | | | | stylistically into periods: The Protogeometric from |
| Panathenaic amphorae (used for storage), are the | | | | about 1050 BC. The Geometric from about 900 BC. |
| exception. Most surviving pottery consists of drinking | | | | The Archaic from about 750 BC. The Black figure |
| vessels such as amphorae, kraters (bowls for mixing | | | | from the early 7th century BC. The Red figure from |
| wine and water), hydria (water jars), libation bowls, | | | | about 530 BC. |
| jugs and cups. Painted funeral urns have also been | | | | The range of colors which could be used on pots |
| found. Miniatures were also produced in large | | | | was restricted by the technology of firing: black, |
| numbers, mainly for use as offerings at temples. In | | | | white, red and yellow were the most common. In the |
| the Hellenistic period a wider range of pottery was | | | | three earlier periods, the pots were left their natural |
| produced, but most of it is of little artistic importance. | | | | light color, and were decorated with slip that turned |
| In earlier periods event quite small Greek city-states | | | | black in the kiln. |
| produced pottery for their own locale. These varied | | | | The fully mature black-figure technique, with added |
| widely in style and standards. Distinctive pottery that | | | | red and white details and incising for outlines and |
| ranks as art was produced on some of the Aegean | | | | details, originated in Corinth during the early 7th |
| islands, in Crete, and in the wealthy Greek colonies of | | | | century BC and was introduced into Attica about a |
| southern Italy and Sicily. By the later Archaic and | | | | generation later; it flourished until the end of the 6th |
| early Classical period, however, the two great | | | | century BC. The red-figure technique, invented in |
| commercial powers, Corinth and Athens, came to | | | | about 530 BC, reversed this tradition, with the pots |
| dominate. Their pottery was exported all over the | | | | being painted black and the figures painted in red. |
| Greek world, driving out the local varieties. Pots from | | | | Red-figure vases slowly replaced the black-figure |
| Corinth and Athens are found as far a field as Spain | | | | style. Sometimes larger vessels were engraved as |
| and Ukraine, and are so common in Italy that they | | | | well as painted. |
| were first collected in the 18th century as "Etruscan | | | | |