Understanding Greek Vases: A Guide to Terms, Styles, and Techniques

by Andrew J. Clark, Maya Elston, Mary Louise Hart

What is a pyxis? Who was the Amasis Painter? How did Greek vases get their distinctive black and orange colors? This richly illustrated book--the latest in the popular Looking At series--offers definitions and descriptions of these and many other Greek vase shapes, painters, and techniques encountered in museum exhibitions and publications on ancient Greek ceramics. Included is an essay on how to look at Greek vases and another on the conservation of ancient ceramics. These essays provide succinct explanations of the terms most frequently encountered by museum-goers. The concise definitions are divided into two sections, one on potters and painters and another on vase shapes and technical terms relating to the construction and decoration of the vases. Featuring numerous color illustrations of Greek vases, many from the Getty Museum's collection, Understanding Greek Vases is an indispensable guide for anyone wishing to obtain a greater understanding and enjoyment of Greek ceramics.

Genres: Art, Greece, Archaeology, Reference, History, Nonfiction

168 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 2002

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database. For more information please see Andrew J. Clark.

Andrew J. Clark is an independent scholar specializing in the study of Greek ceramics.

Reviews

[Tumblyhome (Caroline)]

Well who knew Greek vases could be so fascinating. I was listening to someone bemoaning the fact that their classics degree involved soooo much looking at Greek vases. So I wondered why that might be.. I mean, I know they depict scenes from myth and legend, but not much more. To my shame, I hadn’t really given the subject of pottery in Ancient Greece much thought…So I read this introductory book and yesterday took a trip to the Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge to compare the book and actual vases. And oh my goodness! What an interesting field of study. The book definitely made me appreciate what I was looking at. I spent my whole trip engrossed in the relatively small section of Greek pottery and was delighted to find that I had learnt enough to understand a lot more and appreciate it in all its glory. I also fully understand what a huge subject this is.. learning more will be a goal for me now.

The book gives an excellent overview of the history, the methods, the uses and the many forms of these wonderful artefacts.

I like that the book says that ‘the imagery offers neither a complete nor a balanced view of the society. Few of the many slaves and foreigners ….are depicted. Women and children are shown only in a very limited number of roles…the ugly, infirm and elderly are unseen’ but ‘nevertheless, what vase painters chose to portray shows us so much of their world in lively intimately detailed and often remarkably beautiful pictures…’

And I think this is fair… we still do portray life in that way, but far from being biased and deceptive, I think it shows what we might aspire to, what we see as important and thus indirectly tells us far more that it might appear.

I learnt a lot from this short introductory book. The photos are beautiful.. I would like a lot more, but in a slim volume it had more than could normally be expected.
Ps. An added benefit is that I have been slowly learning Attic Greek and the book does give the Greek names and how the modern names derive from the Greek. I found that extremely helpful and on the very odd occasion a little bit exciting when I found I knew the word already and could translate it.

[Dale Noble]

A good source book for those wanting to know more about Greek Vases in a quick and comprehensive guide. Covers most of the artistic styles and, though it mainly focuses on Attic pottery, provides a quick overview of the various regional differences. Regret not using this more for my degree.

[Nick H]

This might be the single best book on Ancient Greek pottery I’ve read. It’s ver clearly laid out, it has excellent notation on its various phrases, the photos are high quality and numerous, and it features a ridiculously valuable chart of the various edge patterns and vase shapes. For someone like me who specifically is interested in Attic Red Figure, this book which focuses only on Attic pottery is a godsend. This is the kind of reference book I’d like to have with me wherever I go.

すごく役に立つ。情報が面白いし写真が多いし色んなパターンと形の明らかなチャートとかめっちゃ素晴らしい。色んな古代ギリシャ壺の本の中，これは1番好きと思う

[Jon Corelis]

An excellent introductory survey of the subject. The beginner will find this the best place to start learning about the "nuts and bolts" of Greek vases, the reader who has some general knowledge of the subject will find the book invaluable for refreshing, extending and consolidating that knowledge, and even the scholar with a high level knowledge will find this book useful as a quick-and-ready reference. If you are interested, or may be interested, in Greek vases, you should get this book.

[Linniegayl]

Read this in conjunction with an online class in Greek Vases. The book is short, but packed full of details about Greek vases. Nearly every page has a color photo of a Greek vase. For me, one of the most useful parts is the extensive glossary with pretty much every term I wanted to know about.

[Nion]

简单明了的入门小书。开始是古希腊陶瓶的概况和现代保存方法。之后是主要制作者/画师的名录(为了方便索引而按照字母顺序而非年代排列，要了解互相传承和影响比较麻烦)，以及用术语表的形式讲解陶瓶的基本分类、用途和制作工艺(十分好)。介绍范围仅限于黑绘红绘繁盛时期的阿提卡地区，所以米诺斯大章鱼海鲜风或者几何时期都没有提到。绘画方面有整理基本的纹样和主题，但绘画内容不是此书重点。

[Jill]

Excellent overview.