Online Encyclopedia

Italy is not, strictly speaking, Etruscan, but may perhaps be more accurately styled "Umbrian." It is usually referred to as the " Terramare " period from the remains discovered in that See also:

DISTRICT

district in the See also:

basin of the Po. These See also:

PEOPLE

people were See also:

lake-dwellers, barely removed from the See also:

NEOLITHIC, or LATER STONE AGE (Gr. vEOr, new, and XLOos, stone)

Neolithic See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage of culture, and their pottery was of the rudest See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind, See also:

hand-made and roughly baked. Cups and pots have been found sometimes with See also:

SIMPLE

simple decoration in the See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of knobs or bosses, and many have a See also:

CRESCENT (Lat. crescens, growing)

crescent-shaped handle serving as a support for the thumb. The next period, the earliest which- can be spoken of as " Etruscan," is known as the " See also:

VILLANOVA

Villanova " period, from a site of that name near See also:

Bologna, or as the period of See also:

PIT (O. E. pytt, cognate with Du. put, Ger. Pfutze, &c., all ultimately adaptations of Lat. puteus, well, formed from root pu-, to cleanse, whence gurus, clean, pure)

pit-tombs (a pozzo), from the form of the See also:

GRAVES, ALFRED PERCEVAL (1846— )

graves in which the pottery has been found (see VILLANOVA). It begins with the 9th century B.c. and lasts for about two See also:

HUNDRED

hundred years. The pit-tombs usually contain large cinerary urns or ossuaria (containing the ashes of the dead), fashioned by hand from a badly-levigated volcanic See also:

clay known as impasto Italico. These vessels were irregularly baked in an open See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire, and the See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour of the See also:

SURFACE

surface varies from red-See also:

brown to greyish See also:

black. They appear to have been covered with a polished slip, intended to give the vases a metallic See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance. The shape of the urns is See also:

PECULIAR

peculiar, but See also:

UNIFORM

uniform; they have a small handle at the widest See also:

PART

part and a See also:

COVER (from the Fr. convert, from couvrir, to cover, Lat. cooperire)

cover in the form of an inverted bowl with handle (See also:

PLATE

Plate III. fig.

63). Their ornamentation consists of incised or stamped geometrical ornaments formed in the moist clay in bands See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round the See also:

NECK (O. Eng. hnecca; the word appears in many Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch ride, Ger. Nacken; in O. E. the common word was heals; cf. Ger. Hals)

neck and See also:

BODY

body; more rarely patterns painted in See also:

white are found. See also:

COMMON

Common pottery is also found showing little advance on that of the Terramare period except in variety of decoration. The technique and See also:

ORNAMENT (Lat. ornare, to adorn)

ornament are the same as in the See also:

case of the urns. They correspond in development, though not in date, to the See also:

early pottery of See also:

Troy and See also:

Cyprus, as well as to the See also:

PRIMITIVE

primitive pottery of other races, but one marked differenceis the See also:

general fondness of the See also:

ITALIAN

Italian See also:

potter for vases with handles. Sometimes the cinerary urns take the form of huts (tuguria), though these are more often found in the neighbourhood of See also:

Rome. One of the best examples is in the See also:

BRITISH

British Museum; it still contains ashes which were inserted through a little See also:

DOOR (corresponding to the Gr. Bbpa,. Lat. fores or valvae; the English word, with other forms common in allied languages, comes from the same Indo-European stem as the Gr. Obpa and Lat. fares)

door secured by a See also:

CORD (derived through the Fr. corde, from the Lat. chorda, Gr. xop(5rt, the string of a musical instrument)

cord passing through rings. The ornamentation suggests the See also:

RUDE, FRANCOIS (1784–1855)

rude See also:

CARPENTRY

carpentry of a primitive hut, the cover or roof being vaulted with raised ridges to represent the beams. The surface is polished, and other specimens are occasionally painted with patterns in white. In the next stage a See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change is seen in the form of the tombs, the pit being replaced by a See also:

TRENCH, RICHARD CHENEVIX (1807-1886)

trench; this is accordingly known as the " trench-See also:

TOMB (Gr. Tuµ/3a, Tuµ(3os, probably allied to Lat. tumulus, literally a swelling, tumere, to swell)

tomb " or a fossa period, and extends from the 8th century B.C. to the beginning of the 6th. Importations of Greek pottery now first make their appearance. The See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of the See also:

LOCAL

local pottery actually remains for some time the same as that of the preceding period, but it improves in technique.

By degrees an improvement in the forms is also noted, and new varieties of ornamentation are introduced; there is, however, no See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence that the See also:

wheel was used. Two entirely new classes of pottery are found at Cervetri (See also:

CAERE (mod. Cerveteri, i.e. Caere vetus, see below)

Caere) belonging to the 7th century. One consists of large jars (@rtam) of red See also:

WARE

ware, the See also:

LOWER

lower part being moulded in ribs, while the upper has bands of See also:

DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

design stamped round it in See also:

groups or friezes. These designs were either produced from single stamps or rolled out from cylinders like those used in Babylonia. The subjects are usually quasi-See also:

ORIENTAL

oriental in character, and it is not certain that this ware was made in Etruria, especially as similar vases have been found in See also:

Rhodes and See also:

SICILY (Ital. Sicilia)

Sicily; either it was imported, or it was a local imitation of Greek See also:

MODELS

models. The other class is similar as regards the shapes and the nature of the clay, but is distinguished by having painted subjects in white outlines on a red glossy ground. The clay, a kind of impasto Italico, was first hardened by See also:

BAKING

baking, and then a mixture of See also:

wax, See also:

RESIN (through O.Fr. resine, modern reline, from Lat. resina, prcbably Latinized from Greek Pirivrt, resin)

resin and See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron See also:

OXIDE

oxide was applied and polished; on this the See also:

PIGMENTS (Lat. pigmentum, from pingere, to paint)

pigments, a mixture of See also:

CHALK

chalk and See also:

earth, were laid. The subjects are from Greek See also:

MYTHOLOGY

mythology or are at least Greek in character, but the technique is purely Etruscan, and the See also:

DRAWING

drawing is crude and un-Greek in the extreme. The See also:

FOURTH

fourth period shows a See also:

close continuity with the third; but the difference is defined firstly by the appearance of a new type of tomb in the form of a chamber (a See also:

CAMERA (a Latin adaptation of Gr. Kagapa, an arched chamber)

camera), secondly, by the all-pervading See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of oriental art, and to a less extent of that of the Greeks_ The period extends from about 65o to 550 B.C., and is further marked by the general introduction of the wheel into Etruria arid by the appearance of See also:

INSCRIPTIONS (from Lat. inscribere, to write upon)

inscriptions in an See also:

ALPHABET (see also WRITING)

alphabet derived from western Greece. In the earlier tombs the typical local pottery is of hand-made impasto Italico resembling that of the previous periods; in the later we find what is known'as bucchero ware—the See also:

NATIONAL

national pottery of Etruria—which is made on the wheel and baked in a See also:

FURNACE

furnace, and shows a marked tendency to imitate See also:

metal. To this period also belongs the famous Polledrara tomb or Grotto d'Iside at Vulci, the contents of which are now in the British Museum and include some remarkable specimens of pottery. It See also:

DATES

dates from about 62o–610 B.C.

The most remarkable of the vases is a hydria, of reddish-brown clay covered with a lustrous black slip on which have been painted designs in red, See also:

BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages)

blue and a yellowish white. The See also:

COLOURS, MILITARY

colours have unfortunately now almost disappeared, and it is doubtful if they had been fired. The See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal subject is from the See also:

story of See also:

THESEUS

Theseus and See also:

ARIADNE (in Greek mythology)

Ariadne. This tomb also contained a large wheel-made pithos of red impasto ware with designs painted in polychrome. In the Regulini-Galassi tomb at Cervetri (about65oB.c.) large cauldrons of red glossy ware were found, with gryphons' heads projecting all round, to which chains were attached. A similar cauldron from See also:

FALERII [mod. Civitd Castellana (q.v.)]

Falerii on a high open-See also:

WORK

work stand is now in the British Museum. We now come to the bucchero ware, which is characteristic of the later portion of this period, though the earliest examples go back to the end of the 7th century. Its See also:

main feature is the black See also:

PASTE (O. Fr. paste, modern pate, Late Lat. pasta, whence also in Span., Port. and Ital., from Gr. 1r&vrrl or 1raara, barley porridge, or salted pottage, ir&ao'ety, to sprinkle with salt)

paste of which it is composed, covered with a more or less shining black slip. See also:

MODERN

Modern experiments seem to indicate that the clay was smoked or fumigated in a closed chamber after baking, becoming thereby blackened throughout, and the surface was then polished with wax and resin. Analyses of the ware have proved that it contains See also:

CARBON (symbol C, atomic weight 12)

carbon and that it had been lightly fired. The See also:

OLDEST

oldest bucchero vases are small and hand-made, sometimes with incised geometrical patterns engraved with a See also:

sharp See also:

TOOL (0. Eng. tdl, generally referred to a root seen in the Goth. taujan, to make, or in the English word " taw," to work or dress leather)

tool like metal-work. Oriental influence then appears in a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of See also:

CHALICE (through a central O. Fr. form of the Lat. calix, calicis, cup)

chalice-shaped cups found at Cervetri with friezes of animals.

From about 56o B.C. onwards the vases are all wheel-made, with ornaments in See also:

RELIEF

relief either stamped from a See also:

CYLINDER (Gr. KvAwSpos, from KvXivaety, to roll)

cylinder or composed of See also:

SEPARATE

separate medallions attached to the See also:

vase. The subjects range from animals or monsters to winged deities or suppliants making offerings (fig. 34); in other cases we find meaningless groups of figures or plant forms. These types are found chiefly in See also:

SOUTHERN

southern Etruria, but at See also:

CHIUSI (anc. Clusium)

Chiusi (See also:

CLUSIUM (mod. Chiusi, q.v.)

Clusium) a more elaborate variety found favour from about 500 to 300 B.C. The shapes are very varied and the ornament covers the vase from See also:

TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top to bottom, the covers of the vases being also frequently modelled in various forms. The figures are stamped from moulds, incised designs being added to fill up the spaces. The range of subjects is much widened, including scenes from Greek mythology and oriental types combining See also:

EGYPTIAN

Egyptian and See also:

ASSYRIAN

Assyrian motives, which must have been introduced by the Phoenicians. Thus the technique of the bucchero wares is purely native, but the decoration is entirely dependent on See also:

FOREIGN

foreign types whether Greek or oriental, and throughout the whole series the tendency to imitate metal-work is to be observed in every detail, both in the forms and in the methods of decoration. Some are See also:

mere counterparts of existing work in bronze. The last variety of peculiarly Etruscan pottery which calls for See also:

NOTICE

notice is the Canopic See also:

jar, so called from its resemblance to the Kavwaoi in which the Egyptians placed the bowels of their mummies. They are rude representations of the human figure, the See also:

head forming the cover, and in the tombs were placed on round chairs of See also:

wood, bronze or terra-See also:

cotta. An example of such a jar on a bronze-plated See also:

CHAIR (in. Mid. Eng. chcere, through O. Fr. chaire or chaiere, from Lat. cathedra, later caledra, Gr. xaOi3pa, seat, cf. "cathedral"; the modern Fr. form chaise, a chair, has been adopted in English with a particular meaning as a form of carriage; chaire

chair may be seen in the Etruscan See also:

ROOM

Room of the British Museum (Plate III. fig.

65). Their origin has been traced to the funeral masks found in the earliest Etruscan tombs. From these a See also:

GRADUAL (Med. Lat. gradualis, of or belonging to steps or degrees; gradus, step)

gradual transition may be observed from the See also:

MASK (Fr. masque, apparently from med. Lat. mascus, masca, spectre, through Ital. maschera, Span. mascara)

mask (r) placed on the See also:

CORPSE (Lat. corpus, the body)

corpse, (2)on the cinerary See also:

URN (Lat. urna, either from root of urere, to burn, being made of burnt clay, or connected with urceus, Gr. I5pxa, jar)

urn, (3) the head modelled in the round and combined with the vase, and (4) at last the See also:

COMPLETE

complete human figure. The earliest of these jars are found in,the " pit-tombs " of the 8th century B.c., and the latest and most See also:

DEVELOPED

developed types belong to the 5th century B.C. The skill shown by the Etruscans in metal-work and See also:

gem-See also:

ENGRAVING

engraving never extended to their pottery, which is always purely imitative, especially when they attempted painted vases after the Greek See also:

FASHION (adapted from Fr. facon, agon, Lat. factio, making, facere, to do or make)

fashion. The kinds already described are all more or less plastic in character and imitative of metal, except in the case of the Cervetri and Polledrara finds, which have little in common with anything Greek, and exhibit a quite undeveloped art. But towards the end of the 6th century B.C., when Greek vases were coming into the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country in large See also:

numbers, attempts were made to imitate the black-figure See also:

style, especially of a particular class of Ionian vases. Imitations of these are to be found in most museums and may be readily recognized as Etruscan from peculiarities of style, drawing and subject, as well as their inferior technique (fig. 35). of See also:

ALCESTIS (A1,CEST1s)

Alcestis and See also:

ADMETUS

Admetus, with Etruscan inscriptions. At a later date (4th-3rd century B.C.) they began to copy red-figured vases with similarly unsuccessful results. With the exception of a small class of a somewhat ambitious character made at Falerii (Civita Castellana), of which there is a See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good example in the British Museum with the subject of the See also:

INFANT (in early forms enfaunt, enfant, through the Fr. enfant, from Lat. infans, in, not, and fans, the present participle of fari, to speak)

infant Heracles strangling the serpents, they are all marked by their inferior material and finish and their bizarre decoration.

The style is often repulsive and disagreeable, as well as ineffective, and the grim Etruscan deities, such as Charun, are generally introduced. Some of these vases have painted inscriptions in the Etruscan alphabet. The latest specimens positively degenerate into barbarism. Painted vases of native manufacture are also found in the extreme See also:

south of Italy and have been attributed to the indigenous races of the Peucetians and Messapians; their decoration is partly geometrical, partly in conventional plant forms, and is the result of natural development rather than of imitation of Greek types. Some of the shapes are characteristic, especially a large four-handled krater. They cover the period 600–450 B.C., after which they were ousted by the Graeco-Italian productions we have already described.

End of Article: ETRUSCAN POTTERY

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
ETRUSCAN

[next]
ETTENHEIM