Amphora with Figures

Description This amphora has stamped decoration around the shoulder with seated and standing figures. The Etruscans were a confederation of city-states in central Italy during the 7th-3rd centuries BCE. In addition to their notability as a maritime power, the Etruscans are also known for their bucchero, a style of pottery that was produced between the 7th and the 5th centuries BCE. It is black inside and out due to the reducing atmosphere during the firing process that prevented oxidation. Bucchero vessels are made on a wheel, and the forms often imitate contemporary impasto and metalware. When polished, the effect of bucchero’s black surfaces can even resemble oxidized silver. Impasto is a coarser clay that that is often dark gray.

Provenance Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902