From the 8th century BC, Southern Italy was occupied and colonised by the Greeks, and is referred to as Magna Graecia (a literal translation of ‘Great Greeks’ in Latin). This area was chosen as it occupied the coastlines and presented an advantageous geographical position for trade.
The Greeks played their part as colonists ensuring the Panhellenic ideas and traditions were adopted, including the fashion of pottery decoration, being black figure and red figure designs which gained popularity during the 6th – 4th centuries BC. In the metropolis of Ancient Greece, the Attica area which encompassed Athens was established as an important site for pottery production and export. Up until the latter part of the 5th century BC, Greek colonists were exporting their pottery from Athens to the Italiotes (the pre-Roman, Greek-speaking inhabitants of the Italian Peninsula). After this point, production began in South Italy.
During the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries AD, excavations in Campania, Apulia, and Sicily yielded quantities of vases, which ignited a reappraisal of the artistic merits of South Italian vases and promoted their correct identification. As a result of those discoveries, South Italian pottery is now distinctly understood to have been made locally upon original designs of Greece proper, based in five production areas: Lucania, Apulia, Campania, Paestan, and Sicily for local use. Enjoying great popularity, extraordinarily out of the documented 17,000-18,000 red figure vases discovered, less than 1% have been found in the South Italian region.
bell krater, circa 4th
century BC. $3,000-4,000
Attic black figure designs by contrast presented a slow decline starting with the great plague of 430 BC, and the prolonging of the Peloponnesian war, which slowed production and was associated with the disruption of the workforce. By 400 BC, black figure pottery became notably less imported to Magna Graecia, as a result of the defeat of Athens during the Peloponnesian war of 404 BC.
When comparing pottery from Greece proper and Magna Graecia, there are some distinct differences, most notably starting with the clay, as is common when firing clay in different areas. The colour and texture varied between Attica and the main regions of South Italian pottery. In Attica the black glaze was bright and brilliant, while the clay from Athens was iron rich, producing a deep red colour when fired. In Apulia and Lucania, the fired clay is a deep shade of orange-red whereas in Campania and Sicily it is lighter and often a deep pink wash was applied to improve the overall appearance.
In addition to the variations of the clay, there was the difference of decoration. The South Italian vase painters were markedly more florid, and decorated with elaborate pattern work which was in stark contrast to Attic painters who adopted longstanding traditions of restraint.
$6,000-8,000
With a wealth of new material bringing to light the origin of the pottery and its decoration, the Morellian method, which focused on small details rather than overall composition, was undertaken to analyse the vase paintings and used to identify recurring formulae of a single artist’s technique or style. As these artists very rarely signed their works and there is no documented record of artists from this period, a name was often attributed to them as identification. An example of this is the Roccanova painter, who was operating in the Lucania region of Roccanova and who was characterised by his provincial painting style of youths and females, often depicted holding a mirror or a branch in one hand. An example of his work is a Lucanian pottery hydria, dating to the 4th century BC, decorated with his iconic repertoire of figures, and showing his distinct floral patterns with an inclination towards elaborate palmettes.
Within our forthcoming August 5th Decorative Arts offering we have an interesting collection of over 30 privately owned antiquities, including pottery with red and black figure subjects from South Italy and Greece, all sourced internationally by a discerning Melbourne collector.
By Chiara Curcio, Head of Decorative Arts, Design & Interiors
Top Image: Highlights from a private collection of Antiquities, Melbourne Decorative Arts Auction 5 August, 6pm
July 2024