Consumerism in the Ancient World by Justin St. P. Walsh

Author:Justin St. P. Walsh [Walsh, Justin St. P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Ancient, Greece, General, Historical Geography, Business & Economics, Economic History
ISBN: 9781317812845
Google: XU83AgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-11-26T16:00:42+00:00

Greek Vase Shapes and Functions

As stated in the previous chapter, it is clear that the meanings Greek vases had in Greek communities were attributed rather than inherent; in addition, it seems very likely even before analyzing the dataset that non-Greeks gave new meanings to the Greek pottery that they purchased. In order to understand how meanings might have shifted, however, it will be useful to review the ways Greek vases were used in Greek contexts. The nomenclature used here and in the dataset follows the one established by Sparkes and Talcott (1970). In certain instances, it was necessary to adjust the names used in publications to align with the one used here; Jully (1982), for instance, seems to have used the term “cup-kotyle” to refer to the shape known in the rest of this corpus as a “cup-skyphos.” In the list below, the vessels have been organized by their primary function (drinking, eating, storage, household equipment, and transport) and then by shape.

Vessels associated with drinking are both the most common in the Greek world and the easiest to identify. Many descriptions of drinking parties, such as the Symposia of Plato and Xenophon, survive from antiquity. These works give names and instructions for the use of different types of vases at particular times during a party. Still more useful are the scenes of drinking that appear on many contemporary vessels. Pictures showing reclining men drinking from various vases, pouring from others, and mixing wine in still others demonstrate the uses of those vessels. Narrative scenes are occasionally supplemented by bands framing the bottom of the scene that depict an even wider range of cups and pitchers and relate them to the activity occurring above. Information about eating vessels and practices comes less frequently, though in a similar fashion. We have even less information about cooking or storage vessels, or those with household uses such as lamps or oil flasks. These types appeared infrequently in vase paintings, and they were even more rarely mentioned in literature. Inventories of objects listed in inscriptions also give an idea of the roles of different kinds of vases. The most important inscriptions for vase names are the Attic Stelai, which list the possessions of those convicted for defacing the herms in 415 (Amyx 1998). Lewis has studied temple inventories for similar evidence (1986). Archaeologists have instead assigned extant vessels to the categories of cooking, storage, or household by studying their shapes, fabrics, sizes, decoration, and other attributes. It is assumed in this study that Greek potters designed their products adaptively for the uses to which they would be put in their home contexts (i.e., vessels used for distributing liquid would be designed for pouring; vessels for eating would have shapes useful for holding local cuisine; and so forth). Identification of functions in Greece is aided by the depiction of the use of vases in images, which most often survive in paintings on the vases themselves (Gericke 1970). As a result, examination of all of the various

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