The
White Ground Technique of vase painting flourished between the late 6th century BCE until the end of the fifth century in
AthensThe History of Athens is one of the oldest of any city in Europe and in the world. Athens has been continuously inhabited for over 7000 years, becoming the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC; its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of western...
and
EtruriaEtruria — usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia — was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
. The earliest surviving example of the technique is a fragmentary
kantharosA kantharos is a type of Greek pottery used for drinking. It is characterized by its high swung handles which extend above the lip of the pot.The god Dionysus had such a cup, that was never empty....
of ca. 570 BC signed by the potter-painter Nearchos, and found on the
Athenian AcropolisThe Acropolis of Athens is the best known acropolis in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification...
(Akropolis 611). The method consists of a white
slipA slip is a suspension in water of clay and/or other materials used in the production of ceramic ware. Normally a deflocculant such as sodium silicate is added to disperse the particles and hence allow a much higher solids content to be used. The addition of a defloculant allows the water content...
of the local
calcareousCalcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...
clayClay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired...
applied to a terracota
vaseThe vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. It can be made from a number of materials including ceramics and glass. The vase is often decorated and thus used to extend the beauty of its contents....
and then painted.
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The
White Ground Technique of vase painting flourished between the late 6th century BCE until the end of the fifth century in
AthensThe History of Athens is one of the oldest of any city in Europe and in the world. Athens has been continuously inhabited for over 7000 years, becoming the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC; its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of western...
and
EtruriaEtruria — usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia — was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
. The earliest surviving example of the technique is a fragmentary
kantharosA kantharos is a type of Greek pottery used for drinking. It is characterized by its high swung handles which extend above the lip of the pot.The god Dionysus had such a cup, that was never empty....
of ca. 570 BC signed by the potter-painter Nearchos, and found on the
Athenian AcropolisThe Acropolis of Athens is the best known acropolis in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification...
(Akropolis 611). The method consists of a white
slipA slip is a suspension in water of clay and/or other materials used in the production of ceramic ware. Normally a deflocculant such as sodium silicate is added to disperse the particles and hence allow a much higher solids content to be used. The addition of a defloculant allows the water content...
of the local
calcareousCalcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...
clayClay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired...
applied to a terracota
vaseThe vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. It can be made from a number of materials including ceramics and glass. The vase is often decorated and thus used to extend the beauty of its contents....
and then painted. In the later development of the technique, a coloured wash was often applied to the clothing or flesh of the figures depicted. The earliest incidence of the technique was used to create strobing bands of colour that emphasize the shape of the vase (as on Nearchos, NY Met 1926,26.49), the use of a white ground in conjunction with outline painting did not develop until ca. 520 and is associated with the workshops of
AndokidesThe Andokides Painter was an ancient Athenian vase painter, active from 535 to approximately 515 BCE. His work is unsigned, he is named therefore after the potter for whom he worked...
,
NikosthenesNikosthenes was a potter of Greek black- and red-figure pottery in the time window 545-510 B.C. He is thought to have been associated with the work of the painters Oltos, Lydos, Epiktetos and the Nikosthenes-Painter....
and
PsiaxPsiax was an ancient Greek vase painter. He played an important role in the transition from Attic black-figure to red-figure. Formerly called the Menon Painter, after the potter’s signature on a red-figure amphora Psiax (flourished in Athens circa 525–510 BCE) was an ancient Greek vase painter. He...
. By the Classical period white ground can be identified most closely with three principle shapes: lekythoi, cups and kraters. That the emergence of this form of painting can be explained as emulation of the more prestigious medium of wall painting has been conjectured but not demonstrated.