BLACK GLAZE KYATHOS
Ancient Greek, circa 5th - 4th century B.C.
Terracotta, with black slip
7 cm high
12.5 cm wide
Provenance:
(Professor) Dr Peter (1918 - 2013) and Mrs Traudi Plesch (1921 - 2013) collection, London, U.K. (1950s / 60s style collection label underside: no. ‘Ch13B’);
Private collection, New Jersey, formed in the 1980s - 1990s
£2, 250
The Greeks are to terracotta, what the Chinese are to porcelain. No culture has made better. Black glaze vessels represent examples of the luxurious tablewares that were part of everyday life in Ancient Greece. By 550 B.C. the workshops in Athens surpassed all others with their potting and glazing techniques. The lustrous black colour of the glaze was achieved by the high iron content of the slip.