Pontic Group

ThePontic Group(orPontic vases) is a sub-style ofEtruscanblack-figure vase painting.

DiomedesandPolyxena,Ponticamphoraby theSilenus Painter,circa540/30 BC.Paris:Louvre.

Stylistically, Pontic vases are very closely related toIonic vase painting.It is assumed, that the vases were produced inEtruriaby craftsmen who had emigrated fromIonia.Their misleading name was coined byGeorg Ferdinand Dümmleron the basis of a vase depicting an archer, whom he mistook to be aScythian,a people who lived on theBlack Sea(or Pontus). The majority of Pontic vases were found in graves atVulci,a further considerable number atCerveteri.The leading shape was aneck amphoraof strikingly slender shape, very similar to theTyrrhenian amphora.Other shapes includeoinochaiwith spiral handles,dinoi,kyathoi,plates and stemmed cups,kantharoiand other shapes occur rarely. The artistic scheme of Pontic vases is uniform. Usually, they bear ornamental decoration on the neck, followed by figural motifs on the shoulder, then a further ornamental band, an animal frieze and a ring of rays. Foot, part of the neck and handles are black. The importance of the ornaments is striking. Some of the vessels bear purely ornamental decoration.

Judgement of Parison thename vaseof theParis Painter,amphora,circa530 BC.Munich:Staatliche Antikensammlungen.

The clay of Pontic vases is yellowy-red. The shinyslipcovering them is black to brownish-red, of high quality, with a metallic sheen. Red and white paint is used copiously for figures and ornaments. Animals are usually decorated with a white stripe on the belly. Ornamentation is often executed quite carelessly. Scholars have so far recognised six workshops. The earliest and best is that of theParis Painter.They depictmythological motifssuch as a beardlessHermes,centaurs,Theseusand theMinotaur,AchillesandTroilos,satyrs,maenadsand a beardlessHerakles,similar to depictions common inEast Greece.Scenes from theTrojan Warare also common. Occasionally, mythological scenes from outside thecorpusof Greek myth occur, such asHeraklesfightingJuno Sospitaby the Paris Painter, or a wolf-like daemon by theTitios Painter.Non-mythological scenes includekomastsand horsemen. The vases are dated between 550 and 500 BC. None bear inscriptions. About 200 pieces are known as yet.

Bibliography

• Pericle Ducati:Pontische Vasen.(=Forschungen zur antiken KeramikReihe 1, Bd. 5) Keller, Berlin 1932.
• Tobias Dohrn:Die schwarzfigurigen etruskischen Vasen aus der zweiten Hälfte des sechsten Jahrhunderts.Ph.D. Köln 1936, p. 33–89. 145–151.
• John Beazley:Etruscan vase painting.Clarendon Press, Oxford 1947, p. 12.
• Enrico Paribeni:Pontici, Vasi.In:Enciclopedia dell'Arte Antica.Vol. 6, Rome 1965Digitalisat
• Birgitte Ginge:Ceramiche Etrusche a figure nere.Materiali del Museo Archaeologico Nazionale di Tarquinia XII. Bretschneider, Rome 1987.
• Maria Antonietta Rizzo:La ceramica a figure nere.In: Marina Martelli (ed.):La ceramica degli Etruschi.Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Novara 1987, p. 31–35.
• John Boardman:Early Greek Vase Painting.Thames and Hudson, London 1998, p. 219–223.
• Matthias Steinhart: Pontische Vasenmalerei. In:Der Neue Pauly,vol. 10, cols. 138-139.
• Thomas Mannack:Griechische Vasenmalerei. Eine Einführung.Theiss, Stuttgart 2002, p. 133ISBN3-8062-1743-2.