In classical archaeology, a name vase is a specific "

vase A vase ( or ) is an open container. It can be made from a number of materials, such as ceramics, glass, non- rusting metals, such as aluminium, brass, bronze, or stainless steel. Even wood has been used to make vases, either by using tree specie ...

"In the study of

ancient Greek pottery Pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has exerted a dispro ...

a "vase" is a general term covering all pottery shapes. whose painter's name is unknown but whose workshop style has been identified. The painter is conventionally named after the selected "name vase" that embodies their characteristic style, or for one of its distinctive painted subjects, or for other attributes. The allocation of such names is necessary because the majority of

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and South Italian vase painters did not sign their works. For discussion and analysis of the work and career of individual artists conventional names were needed in order to designate them. The name can refer to a vase's motif (the Meleager Painter), former owner (the Shuvalov Painter), present location (the

Baltimore Painter The Baltimore Painter was an Apulian vase painter whose works date to the final quarter of the 4th century BC. He is considered the most important Late Apulian vase painter, and the last Apulian painter of importance. His conventional name is deri ...

), find location (the Dipylon Master), inscription, habitual potter (the Kleophrades Painter), shape, and so on. For

Athenian Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

vases, the majority of such names were introduced by John D. Beazley, the first scholar to study them systematically; for South Italian vases,

Arthur Dale Trendall Arthur Dale Trendall, (28 March 1909 – 13 November 1995) was a New Zealand art historian and classical archaeologist whose work on identifying the work of individual artists on Greek ceramic vessels at Apulia and other sites earned him i ...

played a similar role. Important painters given a

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ) is a descriptive nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym in that it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name without the need for explanation; it may beco ...

based on a name vase include for example the Painter of Berlin A 34, the Nessos Painter, the

Andokides Painter Andokides was an ancient Athenian vase painter, active from approximately 530 to 515 BC. His work is unsigned and his true name unknown. He was identified as a unique artistic personality through stylistic traits found in common among several pain ...

, the

Antimenes Painter The Antimenes Painter was an Attica, Attic vase painter of the black-figure vase painting, black-figure style, active between circa 530 and 510 BC. The real name of the Antimenes Painter is not known; his current name is an archaeological con ...

, the

Antiphon Painter The Antiphon Painter () is the Notname for an Athenian red-figure vase-painter active in ancient Greece during the early 5th century BC. He owes his name to a double Kalos inscription of Antiphon on the dinos stand in the Antique collection of ...

, the Berlin Painter, the Bryn Mawr Painter, and the Pistoxenos Painter.

Notes

Ancient Greek vase painting {{Greek vase painting