Pictures for Readers
Pictures for Readers
The Birth of the Illustration in the Second Century
This chapter describes the decline in the production of red-figure vases and the shift to the manufacture and successful export of a type of black-glazed ceramics closely resembling metal vessels. Prosperous clients now increasingly came to prefer vessels made of bronze or silver, while less prosperous clients had to make do with ceramic copies. As a rule, these copies feature a monochromatic slip without figured decoration; embellishments are limited to plant motifs, wreaths, and tendrils, which hardly require interpretation. Even those who used the vessels would have had no reason to regard this ornamentation as a basis for telling stories. Ceramics featuring figured ornamentation were extremely rare in Hellenistic Greece. The majority of finds come from Macedonia and Thessaly, and Macedonia, where casting molds for the production of such vessels have also been found, was probably home to the most important production centers.
Keywords: red-figure vases, black-glazed ceramics, metal vessels, figured ornamentation, Hellenistic Greece, Macedonia, Thessaly
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