Panathenaic amphorae are big, ovoid, lidded vases that were presented as prizes to winners of the Panathenaic Games, which
were held once every four years in Athens in honor of Athena, patroness of the city. They were filled with olive oil from
Athena's sacred trees. The series, presumed to date to the reorganization of the games about 560 BCE, was produced through
the Hellenistic period and beyond. The Panathenaic amphorae of the Classical period are of the finest quality construction.
Panathenaic amphorae were only decorated in the black-figure technique.
Miniature Panathenaic amphorae are ointment vessels with a similar shape to the regular-sized Panathenaic amphorae with small
handles and a narrow foot. They are usually decorated in black-figure and measure about 8 - 19 cm (about 3.1 - 7.5 in) high.
A belly amphora has a continuous, smooth curve from lip to foot. These amphorae have been classified as Types A, B, and C,
based on differences in the shape of lips, feet, and handles.
Named after a site on Rhodes where examples were found, Siana cups can be distinguished from Komast cups by their taller feet
and lips. They are decorated on the tondo (another difference from Komast cups) and there are two schemes for decorating the
exterior. The 'double-decker' type involves two friezes on each side, one on the lip (usually floral), and a figured scene
on the body. The 'overlap' type uses a single frieze on each side to cover the total height of the body and lip. Aspects of
the form and decoration of Siana cups appear to be indebted to East Greek models.
An uncommon form of the kantharos. The elements of foot, lower and upper walls and rim are the same as for the moulded-rim
kantharos, but the single handle spans from the upper part of the lower wall to the bottom edge of the moulding. Lacking a
spur, the cup is narrower than typical kantharoi, and while it is sometimes ribbed it is never found with stamping.
The mastoid cup is a footless, flat-bottomed version of the mastos with an outturned lip. The cup is either handleless or
has horizontal handles attached a little below the rim.
Pyxides are round, lidded boxes of various shapes and sizes used for cosmetics, powder or jewelry. Some were put in tombs.
The term 'skyphoid-pyxis' is used to designate a shape that became a Sicilian specialty with an ovoid body, a lid, and two
horizontal handles.
Rarer than but similar to the psykter-amphora, the psykter-column-krater is a double-walled vessel meant to cool wine or water.
The outer vessel has a spout near the shoulder through which ice or ice water was poured into the space between the two walls.
It usually has a drain spout just above the foot, directly below the pour spout.
Term used to describe ancient Mediterranean vessels in the form of heads or animals or groups that were partially formed in
molds like terracotta statuettes.
Type A is the preferred cup shape of black-figure vase painters from about 530 BCE. The cup has a deep bowl without an offset
lip, a low flaring foot with a pronounced concave edge, and usually a fillet between the thick stem and the bowl.
A minor Geometric shape, the conical oinochoe is small with a trefoil mouth, a narrow neck, and a body that consists of little
more than a broad shoulder. In Early Protocorinthian the body is straightened until it approaches a more or less shallow cone,
and the neck becomes taller; this conical oinochoe shape remains popular in Corinthian pottery until the early 6th c. BCE.
The Type B plemochoё is the later of the two types and is differentiated by its tall, medium-wide stem terminating in a disc-like
foot. Authorities do not fully agree on the name of this vase and it is also called ‘exaleiptron’ and (incorrectly) ‘kothon.’
For further information on terminology, see 'plemochoё.'
A variation of the Little Master cup, this shape is painted black save for a handle zone that contains a decorated frieze,
unlike lip-cups which are largely plain save for the line that divides the lip and the body.
The amphora Type A has a flaring lip with concave sides, flat flanged handles, a foot with the upper part stepped, and a lower
echinus or torus. An early amphora shape that was popular in the black-figure technique, it was produced from the early 6th
c. BCE to about 440 BCE.
The amphora Type C has a rounded lip and torus or echinus foot and its handles vary in shape. It was potted from the second
quarter of the 6th c. BCE in the black-figure technique (especially by the Affecter's workshop), and from ca. 520 BCE to 470
BCE in the red-figure technique.
The skyphos-krater is a very large, deep bowl with two horizontal strap handles with returns, and its rim is flanged or incurving
to receive a domed lid. The bowl may be supported by an echinus foot, or joined to a conical stand. The skyphos-krater is
an uncommon shape with a long history, being made from the Late Geometric period to the first quarter of the 6th c. BCE.
Pelike' is a conventional name for a type of amphora that has a wide mouth and the maximum width low down on the body, producing
a pear-shaped outline.
Lekanis lids from the 6th through early 5th c. were convex and created an almost circular appearance with the lekanis itself.
For the rest of the 5th and into the 4th c., the lid became flatter, answering the parallel development of the bowl. The lid
generally has a central stem or knob for a handle.
The stemmed plate is a plate or shallow dish attached to a stem. The stem can be low or high and spreads to the foot; the
floor slopes to the center where there is sometimes a small depression. The shape of the foot and the similar decorations
suggest that many of the stemmed plates came from one shop over a short period of time between the late 6th c. to early 5th
c. BCE.
The klepsydra, or water clock, was used to enforce time limits on speeches in Athenian law courts. The pots were filled to
a specific level, and as the water drained from a hole near the bottom, marked off the time limit. Approaching the end of
the limit, the stream would have diminished perceptibly as the pressure lessened and would have been apparent not only to
the orator but to its listeners.
A small, footed container with a flat top and a spout at its side, the feeder was used for providing drinks to small children
or invailds. It is also known as a bombylios.
The Type C cup has a rather shallow bowl and a plain or offset lip. The cup can be stemmed or stemless. The stem, when present,
is very short with a fillet at its base, and the foot is a thick torus. In the stemless versions, there is simply a fillet
between bowl and foot.
Related to the Little Master cups, Kassel cups have a rather flat, band-cup shape and are generally small. Both the lip and
body are usually covered with simple patterned bands. Tongues are common at the lip, as are rays above the foot, and some
Kassel cups have silhouette figures in the handle zone.
The calyx-krater is one of the largest Attic vases, and is reminiscent of a bell-shaped flower. It is named for its convex
lower body that has the configuration of the calyx of a flower, while the flaring upper body is suggestive of the bell-shaped
corolla. It has large, robust, upturned handles situated opposite one another on the cul.The calyx-krater appears in Attic
black-figure after the middle of the 6th c. BCE and is a popular shape until the end of red-figure.
Primarily a red-figure shape, the Type B cup comes in shortly after the invention of the technique and was never popular in
black-figure. The bowl of the cup passes directly into the stem without interruption, the shape of the foot is a torus, and
there is usually a small chamfer on its top surface near the edge.
From the verb 'to pour,' the chous is a broad-bodied jug with a low handle and trefoil mouth. It was used in the Anthesteria
festival and as a measure fixed for participants in drinking bouts (3.28 liters). Small choes were used for children's day,
when 3-year-olds received them.
The plate is not a common shape in clay since it was more likely to have been made of wood. Figured plates (more commonly
black-figure) seem to have been made for religious dedications.
Plemochoё' means 'full-pouring,’ and the shape is a low-lidded bowl with a wide shoulder and high foot. It is thought to have
held scented water for personal use, for religious ceremonies, and for the grave. Authorities do not fully agree on the name
of this vase and it is also called ‘exaleiptron’ and (incorrectly) ‘kothon.’ There is a tendency to use the name ‘exaleiptron’
for the stemless version of the vase, in particular for the Corinthian examples, and ‘plemochoё’ for the Athenian high-footed
shape, which is also frequently provided with a lid.
A variation of the Little Master cup where the lip is more obviously offset than on a band-cup; the most obvious distinction
is in the scheme of decoration.
The Attic version was made to be filled with imported perfume, the foreign shape providing a recognizable identification of
the contents. From the early Hellenistic period onwards, when the developed fusiform unguentarium had become the usual export
container for perfume, the small Attic black equivalent would have been superfluous.
The shape, derived from eastern prototypes, is often found in metal. It is a flat, handleless libation bowl, sometimes with
an offset rim. In the centre of the floor is a raised navel (omphalos) which enables the finger to be inserted beneath when
tipping the bowl.
The pyxis lid varies widely depending on the shape of the pyxis itself. Lids can be flat, concave, domed, or conical and rest
on top of the pyxis or can be deep-sided and slip over the sides of the box. The handles are often knobs or metal rings.
Lekythos' is a general word used to denote an oil bottle. The term is now conventionally used for tall and squat shapes with
a foot, a single vertical handle, a narrow neck and a small mouth. Sometimes the basic form is fashioned into fancy shapes
such as an acorn or an almond, or into a human figure. Some carry appliqué designs.
Covered cups are kylikes that are a type of 'trick vase,' that is, they have fixed lids and contain elaborate internal elements
designed to deceive or amuse an unwary user. Covered cups were produced in Athens for roughly a century beginning around 540
BCE.
The stand is much smaller in size than other supports intended to serve as bases for vases. The stand has a wide, flat surface
on top that is often decorated with black- or red-figure. The wide top rests on a stemmed foot, usually with a fillet on the
stem.
The beaked oinochoe is an oinochoe with a trefoil mouth, narrow neck and a body that consists of a little more than a broad
shoulder. In Early Protocorinthian, the neck becomes taller and the contour of the body is straightened until it approaches
a more or less shallow cone; this shape remains popular in Corinthian pottery until the early 6th c. BCE.
The pointed aryballos follows the Middle Protocorinthian ovoid aryballos. In form it is taller and more top-heavy than its
precursor, and it first appears in Late Protocorinthian before being replaced by a new, rounded aryballos.
The handles of the bail amphora reach over the mouth. This type of amphora was used for storing and carrying wine, oil, and
other commoditities, for serving wine at the table, and as an ash urn for the dead.
In size, the Type D pyxis (or box-pyxis) is close to the powder pyxis, but it is more substantially made and was popular during
the late 5th and 4th centuries. It consists of a small cylinder with a flat cover and can be divided into two classes according
to the differing shapes of the lid. The lid consists of a slim flat disc with thickened rim, not unlike the discs and stands,
but provided with a flat area beneath, made to fit the inside of the mouth of the bowl.
The column-krater has an articulated neck, whose wide mouth culminates in a broad rim with an overhaning lip. It takes its
name from the two pairs of columnar handles; these attach to handle plates at their top and to the krater shoulder at their
base.
Meaning 'wine-skin,' the term askos is conventionally (and erroneously) used for a small, flat vase, with narrow sloping spout
and handle arching over body. A variant exists in the form of a double-askos.
The term literally means 'a pouring on.' It is used for a one-handled jug with a long, narrow neck and a reel-shaped body.
This vase type is mainly a South Italian product.
The term 'Little Master cup' is a translation of the German Kleinmeisterschale, alluding to the small scale of the decorative
elements. It has a high-stemmed foot and an offset concave lip. Examples are divided into two categories: lip-cups and band-cups.
Psykter' comes from a word for 'cooling.' The term is used now to denote an Attic shape with a broad, hollow stem, a bulging,
mushroom-shaped body, and a broad mouth. It was sometimes furnished with a lid and pierced tubes for cord. The psykters was
filled with snow or cold water and set to float in a krater full of wine.
The term 'oinochoe' means 'wine-pourer.' The wine jug is fashioned in many varieties (conical, concave, convex) but is usually
furnished with a single vertical handle. The mouth can be round, trefoil, or beak-shaped.
Lids were associated with a variety of vase shapes. Vessels that generally had lids were the pyxis, lekanis, lebes gamikos,
and sometimes the amphora and oinochoe.
The tankard developed from the mug late in the Middle Geometric period. It has a single handle that often rises above the
mouth. In the Late Geometric period, the rim begins to overhand the largest diameter.
The name of this vessel comes from the word 'mastos' meaning 'breast,' since the shape of the cup resembles a woman's breast.
It is usually furnished with one vertical and one horizontal handle and is sometimes provided with a foot instead of a nipple.
The kylix is a large cup used for drinking wine. It has a relatively shallow bowl, two horizontal handles, and usually, but
not necessarily, a high stem above the foot. There are many types of kylix cups such as Komast, Band, Lip, Siana, Type A,
and Type B.
Meaning 'carry on both sides,' the amphora is made in all fabrics. It has two vertical handles, a wide body, and a narrower
neck. Some have a broad foot, some have lids and their size can vary. Used for both liquids and solids, the three main types
are: 1) Transport amphora -- a large coarse-ware shape with a long body, small toe and narrow mouth that can be stoppered.
2) Neck amphora -- there are many varieities in fine ware, all sharing an offset neck. In addition, there are specially named
variants, e.g. Nikosthenic, Nolan, Panathenaic, and pointed. 3) Belly amphora -- the body and neck form a continuous curve.
The forms of handles, mouth, and feet differ among the various types of amphorae.
The small version of the amphora, the amphoriskos is based on the pointed variant of the neck-amphora or transport amphora.
Used for perfumed oil, some carry stamped designs.
The term phormiskos in ancient literary sources applies to all manner of woven bags, sacks, or baskets made from materials
including cloth, leather, or rushes. The ceramic Athenian phormiskos is a rare type of gourd-shaped vase that was produced
from the 6th c. BCE until around 480 BCE. The shape ranges from spherical, to pear-shaped, to ovoid, to elongated ovoid; all
have a slender neck that forms a single contour from lip to a rounded bottom. They are false vases, since the hollow interior
of the body connects to a solid neck. Because of this, along with their name, and their largely funerary iconography, they
were likely made specifically as a type of grave good that mimicked astragal (knucklebone) sacks made of perishable materials.
The Type B exaleiptron is the later of the two types and is differentiated by its tall, medium-wide stem terminating in a
disc-like foot. Authorities do not fully agree on the name of this vase and it is also called ‘plemochoё’ and (incorrectly)
‘kothon.’ For further information on terminology, see 'exaleiptron.'
The Type A exaleiptron is the earlier of the two types and is differentiated by its shorter, wider flaring foot. Authorities
do not fully agree on the name of this vase and it is also called ‘plemochoё’ and (incorrectly) ‘kothon.’ For further information
on terminology, see 'exaleiptron.'
The Chalcidising Cup is a type of cup produced in Athens ca. 520 BCE that copies a shape made in southern Italy. Most feature
eyes on the exterior, some with figures (satyrs, Dionysos, warriors), and a gorgoneion in the interior. Their painters are
not named. Findspots are in Etruria, the Black Sea, and Attica.
From the Greek word for 'beetle,' the term kantharos is now used conventionally for a drinking cup with two vertical, usually
high-swung, handles. The shape, most likley derived from metal vessels, is often shown in the hands of Dionysos, the god of
wine. The kantharos has various different forms.
The term refers to a long, semi-circular cover for the knee and thigh, over which wool was drawn to remove dirt. It is wider
at the open end where the thigh is thicker and closed at the narrow end to fit over the knee cap. The top of the epinetron
is covered with an incised scale pattern, which produced the necessary roughness when the wool was rubbed against it. The
shape is uncommon in black-figure.
The psykter-amphora is a double-walled container whose walls are attached at the neck and at the base, the outer vessel having
a spout at the shoulder through which ice or ice water was poured into the space between the two walls. It usually has a drain
spout just above the foot, directly below the pour spout. The shape was probably only produced in the 6th c. BCE.
The term ‘exaleiptron’ comes from the word meaning ‘to anoint,’ and the shape is a low-lidded bowl with a wide shoulder and
high or low foot. It is thought to have held scented water for personal use, for religious ceremonies, and for the grave.
Authorities do not fully agree on the name of this vase and it is also called ‘plemochoё’ and (incorrectly) ‘kothon.’ There
is a tendency to use the name ‘exaleiptron’ for the stemless version of the vase, in particular for the Corinthian examples,
and ‘plemochoё’ for the Athenian high-footed shape, which is also frequently provided with a lid.
Pithoi were large, heavy-duty storage jars (Ali Baba jars) used for grain and various other materials. They were also used
for interments and were sometimes decorated with reliefs designs. Smaller versions go by the name of the pitharion (pl. pitharia).
A plate with a low foot, an overhanging rim, and a small depression in the centre of its floor for sauce. When figural, it
is usually decorated with fish.
Named for the scholar who first studied them, Droop cups (pronounced 'Drope') derive their shape from Little Master cups.
They have concave black lips marked off more clearly from the body than the Little Master cups, a tall-stemmed foot with a
plain fillet and band (sometimes grooved) at the top, and a black toe. There is a broad black band within the hollow foot,
in the bowl a reserved band low in the lip, and sometimes a reserved center disc.
The Type A plemochoё is the earlier of the two types and is differentiated by its shorter, wider flaring foot. Authorities
do not fully agree on the name of this vase and it is also called ‘exaleiptron’ and (incorrectly) ‘kothon.’ For further information
on terminology, see 'plemochoё.'
The sprinkler varies in size and shape but is generally a round vessel with one or two handles and a flat, perforated bottom.
A small hole at the top was used to fill it with liquid, and when the vessel was shaken the liquid would sprinkle from the
holes in the base. The context in which the sprinkler would have been used is not entirely clear; at least one was found in
the Kerameikos. It may have been used for ritual purification, for lifting and straining wine from a larger vessel, or for
aerating wine as it was sprinkled into a drinking cup. Its shape has been likened to both the mastos and rhyton and is sometimes
(incorrectly) called “klepsydra.”
The term kothon is used for a variety of different shapes. Some equate it (wrongly) with the exaleiptron, while others use
the word to refer to a deep one-handled drinking cup. The vessel is sometimes ribbed and was carried by soldiers and travellers.
The word kothon can also refer to the pilgrim flask shape.
Aryballos is the conventional name for an ovoid or ball-shaped oil pot with one or two handles. Used by athletes, it can be
footed or footless. Some aryballoi are potted in the shape of a head, animal, or bird.
Originiating in the Protogeometric period, the shape is one of the four types in use at the time. The name is derived from
the location of its handles, which are placed on the shoulder of the vessel. The shoulder-handled amphora seems to have been
developed in Athens at the beginning of the Protogeometric period but only became popular at the end, when it sometimes replaced
the belly-handled amphora in female burials.
