Black-figure pottery

A black-figure krater (mixing bowl), 6th century BC, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

The black-figure pottery technique is a style of ancient Greek pottery painting in which the decoration appears as black silhouettes on a red background. It originated in Corinth during the early 7th century BC and was introduced into Attica about a generation later. The technique flourished until being replaced by the more advanced red-figure pottery technique around 530 BC.

Greek vases were made of a pale iron-rich clay which turned a reddish-orange colour when fired. The design was sketched in outline, then filled in using refined clay as paint. Details would be added with an engraving tool, scratching through the paint layer to the clay below. The vessel would then be fired in a kiln at a temperature of about 800°C, with the resultant oxidization turning the vase to a reddish-orange colour. The temperature was then raised to about 950°C with the kiln's vents closed and green wood being added to remove the oxygen. The vessel then turned an overall black. The final stage required the vents to be re-opened to allow oxygen into the kiln, which was allowed to cool down. The vessel now returned to its reddish-orange colour due to renewed oxidization, while the now-vitrified painted layer remained the glossy black colour created in the second stage.

Apart from black, other colours could be used by modifying the characteristics of the clay used to paint the vase. The most common was a yellowish-white derived from a purified iron-free clay, and a purplish-red derived from the same refined clay used to produce the black areas mixed with ochre (red iron oxide) and water.

Black-figure pottery typically depicted figures in silhouette, but it was somewhat limited in artistic scope due to the limitations of engraving tools. Only a few painters are known by name, though many black-figure vases have been grouped on the basis of painting style and appear to be the work of distinct individuals or workshops. The most famous named painter is Exekias, a vase painter of the 6th century BC who is best known for his battle scenes.

See also

• Pottery of Ancient Greece