The Pontic Group (or Pontic vases) is a sub-style of

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

black-figure vase painting Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic ( grc, , }), is one of the styles of painting on antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE, although there are ...

. Stylistically, Pontic vases are very closely related to Ionic vase painting. It is assumed, that the vases were produced in Etruria by craftsmen who had emigrated from Ionia. Their misleading name was coined by Ferdinand Dümmler on the basis of a vase depicting an archer, whom he mistook to be a

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

, a people who lived on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

(or Pontus). The majority of Pontic vases were found in graves at

Vulci Vulci or Volci ( Etruscan: ''Velch'' or ''Velx'', depending on the romanization used) was a rich Etruscan city in what is now northern Lazio, central Italy. As George Dennis wrote, "Vulci is a city whose very name... was scarcely remembered, b ...

, a further considerable number at

Cerveteri Cerveteri () is a town and '' comune'' of northern Lazio in the region of the Metropolitan City of Rome. Known by the ancient Romans as Caere, and previously by the Etruscans as Caisra or Cisra, and as Agylla (or ) by the Greeks, its modern na ...

. The leading shape was a

neck amphora An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...

of strikingly slender shape, very similar to the Tyrrhenian amphora. Other shapes include '' oinochai'' with spiral handles, '' dinoi'', '' kyathoi'', plates and stemmed cups, '' kantharoi'' and other shapes occur rarely. The artistic scheme of Pontic vases is uniform. Usually, they bear ornamental decoration on the neck, followed by figural motifs on the shoulder, then a further ornamental band, an animal frieze and a ring of rays. Foot, part of the neck and handles are black. The importance of the ornaments is striking. Some of the vessels bear purely ornamental decoration. The clay of Pontic vases is yellowy-red. The shiny

slip Slip or SLIP may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Slip (fish), also known as Black Sole * Slip (horticulture), a small cutting of a plant as a specimen or for grafting * Muscle slip, a branching of a muscle, in anatomy Computing and ...

covering them is black to brownish-red, of high quality, with a metallic sheen. Red and white paint is used copiously for figures and ornaments. Animals are usually decorated with a white stripe on the belly. Ornamentation is often executed quite carelessly. Scholars have so far recognised six workshops. The earliest and best is that of the Paris Painter. They depict mythological motifs such as a beardless

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...

, centaurs,

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describ ...

and the Minotaur,

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pele ...

and Troilos,

satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exa ...

maenad In Greek mythology, maenads (; grc, μαινάδες ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of the Thiasus, the god's retinue. Their name literally translates as "raving ones". Maenads were known as Bassarids, ...

s and a beardless

Herakles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

, similar to depictions common in

East Greece East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

. Scenes from the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...

are also common. Occasionally, mythological scenes from outside the ''corpus'' of Greek myth occur, such as

fighting

Juno Sospita Juno ( ; Latin ) was an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counsellor of the state. She was equated to Hera, queen of the gods in Greek mythology. A daughter of Saturn, she was the sister and wife of Jupiter and the mother of Ma ...

by the Paris Painter, or a wolf-like daemon by the Titios Painter. Non-mythological scenes include komasts and horsemen. The vases are dated between 550 and 500 BC. None bear inscriptions. About 200 pieces are known as yet.

Bibliography

* Pericle Ducati: ''Pontische Vasen.'' (= ''Forschungen zur antiken Keramik'' Reihe 1, Bd. 5) Keller, Berlin 1932. * Tobias Dohrn: ''Die schwarzfigurigen etruskischen Vasen aus der zweiten Hälfte des sechsten Jahrhunderts.'' Ph.D. Köln 1936, p. 33–89. 145–151. *

John Beazley Sir John Davidson Beazley, (; 13 September 1885 – 6 May 1970) was a British classical archaeologist and art historian, known for his classification of Attic vases by artistic style. He was Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art at the Un ...

: ''Etruscan vase painting''. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1947, p. 12. * Enrico Paribeni: ''Pontici, Vasi.'' In: ''Enciclopedia dell'Arte Antica''. Vol. 6, Rome 196
Digitalisat
* Birgitte Ginge: ''Ceramiche Etrusche a figure nere. '' Materiali del Museo Archaeologico Nazionale di Tarquinia XII. Bretschneider, Rome 1987. * Maria Antonietta Rizzo: ''La ceramica a figure nere.'' In: Marina Martelli (ed.): ''La ceramica degli Etruschi.'' Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Novara 1987, p. 31–35. * John Boardman: ''Early Greek Vase Painting.'' Thames and Hudson, London 1998, p. 219–223. * Matthias Steinhart: Pontische Vasenmalerei. In: Der Neue Pauly, vol. 10, cols. 138-139. *

Thomas Mannack Thomas Mannack (born in 1958) is a German classical archaeologist. Mannack obtained his Doctorate in 1992 with at the University of Kiel. The thema of his dissertation was ''Beazleys spätere und späteste Manieristen''. He is a specialist in ...

: ''Griechische Vasenmalerei. Eine Einführung''. Theiss, Stuttgart 2002, . {{Commonscat, Pontic group Ancient Greek vase-painting styles