The modern term West Slope pottery describes a type of Greek fine pottery from the Late Classical and

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

periods. West Slope pottery was especially widespread in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The name was coined in 1901 by Carl Watzinger, based on finds from the western slope of the

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

Athens 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 ...

. West Slope pottery is a subtype of Black-glazed Ware. It was additionally decorated with white, yellow and pink clay slip, incisions, vertical ribbing and imprinted roulette decoration. The type developed during the 4th century BC out of a pottery style with applied yellowish-orange plastic ornaments that imitated gilding. West Slope pottery is especially well known from Athens, but several other production centres have been identified. Especially

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; ), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Aeolis. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north s ...

is noteworthy in this regard. Since Athens had lost its dominant role in the Mediterranean pottery markets by this time, it should not be assumed that the form is a particularly Attic one, but rather that Athens adopted and went along with a generally prevailing trend in pottery production. The most common vessels shapes included ''

pyxis Pyxis is a small and faint constellation in the southern sky. Abbreviated from Pyxis Nautica, its name is Latin for a mariner's compass (contrasting with Circinus, which represents a draftsman's compasses). Pyxis was introduced by Nicolas-Louis ...

'',

krater A krater or crater (, ; , ) was a large two-handled type of vase in Pottery of ancient Greece, Ancient Greek pottery and metalwork, mostly used for the mixing of wine with water. Form and function At a Greek symposium, kraters were placed in ...

, ''

hydria The hydria (; : hydriai) is a form of Greek pottery from between the Geometric art, late Geometric period (7th century BC) and the Hellenistic period (3rd century BC). The etymology of the word hydria was first noted when it was stamped on a ...

'',

amphora An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...

, '' pelike'', jug, '' krateriskos'', '' kantharos'',

chalice cup A chalice (from Latin 'cup', taken from the Ancient Greek () 'cup') is a drinking cup raised on a stem with a foot or base. Although it is a technical archaeological term, in modern parlance the word is now used almost exclusively for the ...

, ''

kylix In the pottery of ancient Greece, a kylix ( , ; ; also spelled ''cylix''; : kylikes , ) is the most common type of cup in the period, usually associated with the drinking of wine. The cup often consists of a rounded base and a thin stem under ...

'' and ''

lebes The lebes (, plural ''lebetes'') is a type of ancient Greek pottery, ancient Greek cauldron, normally in bronze. It is a deep bowl with a rounded bottom. It was often supported by a sacrificial tripod. In classical times, a foot was attached and i ...

''. Similar styles developed in the West Mediterranean. For example, the polychrome Gnathia style is closely related. West Slope pottery underwent several stages of development until it went out of production in the second half of the 2nd century BC.

Bibliography

* Roald F. Docter: Westabhangkeramik. In:

Der Neue Pauly The Pauly encyclopedias or the Pauly-Wissowa family of encyclopedias, are a set of related encyclopedias on Greco-Roman topics and scholarship. The first of these, or (1839–1852), was begun by compiler August Pauly. Other encyclopedias in t ...

, vol. 11, cols. 487–488. {{Greek vase painting Ancient Greek vase-painting styles