Attic skyphos, 6th century BC.

Attic skyphos, 6th century BC.
Ceramic polychromed using the black-figure technique.
Provenance: Spanish collection, Madrid.
Measurements: 16 x 35 cm (diameter).
Skyphos made in the workshops of the Attic region, with a central band that holds a procession of figures and horses on both the front and the back. It is decorated with the black-figure ware technique, based on the use of a transparent glaze which, when fired, acquired an intense, glossy black hue. The motifs were therefore invisible before firing, which meant that the painters had to work entirely from memory, unable to see their previous work. Once the piece was fired, the unglazed areas remained with the reddish hue of the clay, while the glazed, "painted" areas took on a dense, glossy black colour. The black-figure technique was introduced in Corinth around 700 BC, and was adopted by Attic artists in the Orientalising period (725-625 BC). This was the beginning of the great series of black-figure pottery, which had its main centre in Athens and continued until the beginning of the 5th century BC.