HellenisticPottery:AthenianandImportedMoldmadeBowls SusanI.Rotroff TheAthenianAgora,Vol.22,Hellenistic Pottery:AthenianandImported MoldmadeBowls. (1982),pp.iii-v+vii-xvii+1-136. StableURL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1558-8610%281982%2922%3Ciii%3AHPAAIM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23 TheAthenianAgoraiscurrentlypublishedbyAmericanSchoolofClassicalStudiesatAthens. YouruseoftheJSTORarchiveindicatesyouracceptanceofJSTOR'sTermsandConditionsofUse,availableat http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html.JSTOR'sTermsandConditionsofUseprovides,inpart,thatunlessyouhaveobtained priorpermission,youmaynotdownloadanentireissueofajournalormultiplecopiesofarticles,andyoumayusecontentin theJSTORarchiveonlyforyourpersonal,non-commercialuse. Pleasecontactthepublisherregardinganyfurtheruseofthiswork.Publishercontactinformationmaybeobtainedat http://www.jstor.org/journals/ascsa.html. EachcopyofanypartofaJSTORtransmissionmustcontainthesamecopyrightnoticethatappearsonthescreenorprinted pageofsuchtransmission. TheJSTORArchiveisatrusteddigitalrepositoryprovidingforlong-termpreservationandaccesstoleadingacademic journalsandscholarlyliteraturefromaroundtheworld.TheArchiveissupportedbylibraries,scholarlysocieties,publishers, andfoundations.ItisaninitiativeofJSTOR,anot-for-profitorganizationwithamissiontohelpthescholarlycommunitytake advantageofadvancesintechnology.FormoreinformationregardingJSTOR,[email protected]. http://www.jstor.org FriJan403:05:252008 THE ATHENIAN AGORA RESULTS OF EXCAVATIONS CONDUCTED BY THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS m VOLUME HELLENISTIC P O r n R Y ATHENIAN AND IMPORTED MOLDMADE BOWLS BY SUSAN I. ROTROW THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS PRINCETON, NEW NEWJERSEY 1982 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Rotroff, Susan I 1947- Hellenistic pottery. (The Athenian Agora; v. 22) Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Athens-Antiquities. 2. Pottery, Hellenistic-Greece, Modem -Athens. 3. Greece, Modem -Antiquities. 4. Athens. Agora. I. Title. I. Series: American School of Classical Studies in Athens. Athenian Agora; v. 22. DF287.A23A5 vol. 22 938.5s [938.5] 80-23055 ISBN 0-87661-222-2 PRINTED IN GERMANY at J. J. AUGUSTIN, GLUCKSTADT FOR MY PARENTS who gave me opportunity and encouragement AND FOR DOROTHY BURR THOMPSON who initiated me into the mysteries of the Hellenistic world PREFACE "Hellenistic pottery has been neglected, and deservedly." So wrote R M. Cook in 1960 (GreekPainted Pottery, p. 203). When viewed in the light of the Classical masterpieces, Hellenistic ceramics may seem to have little to offer. Potting had become a trade often pursued by an indifferent craftsman; the proportion of ill-centered, ungainly, and poorly fired pots is large. But there is still much that Hellenistic pottery can offer, to the archaeologist, certainly, and perhaps even to the art historian. For the archaeologist Hellenistic pottery can provide what any pottery provides: a chronological frame- work Even the meanest fragment may serve to date a significant building or deposit. Fortunately for the archaeologist, Hellenistic pottery is no longer neglected; in recent years there has been increased interest in the Hellenistic ceramics of many sites around the Mediterranean. Several volumes have appeared and more are expected soon. What can Hellenistic pottery offer to the art historian? The type of pottery presented in this volume represents the first large-scale application of the mold process to the production of Greek tableware. The mold technique had earlier been applied to terracotta figurines and in a few instances was used to produce pots of unusual design. Most pottery, however, continued to be wheelmade and it was not until the intro- duction of the so-called Megarian bowl that molds were used on a large scale. These bowls therefore stand at the beginning of a long series of moldmade ceramics, which includes such distinguished successors as Arretine and Wedgwood pottery. These vessels also represent the first Greek experiment in modular art. A limited number of motifs, most of them stamped into the molds with small, re-usable masters, reappear in countless arrangements and combinations. This modular approach to the decoration of the surface of the bowl is a comment, albeit a miive and probably unintentional one, on the relationship of the work of the artisvartisan to the technolo- gy of mass production. It reflects, as does contemporary major art, the redefinition of human possibilities that came with the disintegration of political, ideological, and artistic boundaries in the Hellenistic age. It is a comment that has been echoed more selfconsciously by many artists in our own century; viewed in the context of the art of the American Sixties, the bowls have a peculiar modernity. This book grew out of an interest in the Hellenistic world kindled and encouraged by Dorothy Burr Thompson. Her love for Hellenistic minor arts and her ability to reconstruct the fabric of antiquity from the scraps and remnants that are the archaeologist's portion have inspired two generations of students and scholars. The dedication of this volume to her is my inadequate expression of gratitude, respect, and love for her as a teacher, a scholar, and an individual. The present study is concerned with only a small part of the Hellenistic pottery found in the Ancient Agora of Athens: the moldmade hemispherical bowls which were manufactured from the late 3rd to the early 1st century before Christ. It is intended as the first of two volumes, the second and larger of which will be devoted to the Hellenistic wheelmade pottery from the Agora. I have relied heavily for format on Agora XII, which deals with the Archaic and Classical black and plain pottery. I also owe much to G. Roger Edwards and his fine volume on Corinthian Hellenistic pottery. Edwards devoted years of study to Athe- PREFACE nian Hellenistic pottery as well, and generously turned over to me many photographs and notes accumu- lated in the course of those researches. I would like to thank T. Leslie Shear, Jr., Director of the Agora Excavations, and Homer A. Thompson, former Director of the excavations, for permission to study and publish the material; both have read and reread the manuscript in several different drafts, and it has benefited greatly from their many helpful comments and suggestions. My debt to Homer Thompson is especially great, for his publication of the Hellenistic pottery found in the early years of excavation in the Agora paved the way for this volume; his interest, suggestions, and warm encouragement have been a source of comfort and inspiration. Invaluable help was given by Virginia Grace, who contributed many hours of her time in patient explanation of the chronology of the stamped amphora handles; and by Fred Kleiner, John Kroll, and Alan Walker, who gave freely of their advice on numismatic matters. Thanks are also due Judith Binder, Peter Callaghan, William A. Childs, C. W. J. Eliot, Christian Habicht, Ulrich Hausmann, H. A. Shapiro, Shelley Stone, John S. Traill, and Malcolm Wallace, all of whom contributed their expertise and assistance on scholarly problems. I am grateful to Charles K. Williams, I1 and Nancy Bookidis for allowing and assisting me to see the Hellenistic pottery at Corinth; to Hugh Sackett for permission to examine moldmade bowls at Knossos; and to James R McCredie for the opportunity to look at Hellenistic material on Samothrace. Most of the research was conducted in Athens, and I would like to thank Nancy Winter, Librarian of the Blegen Library of the American School of Classical Studies. I am also grateful to Ruth MacDonald of the Ralph Pickard Bell Library at Mount Allison University for her tireless efforts to obtain obscure publica- tions through the interlibrary loan system. When I began my work on the moldmade bowls, I found in the Agora files many fine drawings which had been done over the years by Iro Athanasiadou and Piet de Jong; these have been supplemented with additional drawings by Helen Besi and Abigad Camp, to whom I am grateful for their painstaking work They cannot, however, be held responsible for the profiles of molds and drawings of conventional floral motifs and characteristic stamps of various workshops, which are the work of the author. Thanks to William B. Dinsmoor, Jr., who drew it, Plan A represents the most complete and accurate reconstruction of the Hellenistic Agora published to date. Eugene Vanderpool, Jr. and Alan Walker took new photographs of many of the objects in the Catalogue. Nikos Restakis, with the assistance of Kyriaki Moustaki, developed and printed the photographs. Special thanks are due Lucy Krystallis, Secretary of the Agora Excavations, for her assistance in amass- ing the photographs, and to Spyros Spyropoulos, mender, finder of misplaced pottery, and ingenious arti- ficer, whose contribution to this study and to the Agora in general is beyond description. I am indebted to Christine Embree and Lynn A. Grant for typing and editorial assistance, and to A. R Lock and the Cana- dian Wildlife Service for the loan of Her Majesty's loyal paper cutter. I am especially grateful to Marian H. McAllister, the editor, for the thought and care she has devoted to this volume, and for the many improve- ments she has suggested. Research was supported in part by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation; I am grateful for their generosity. Words are inadequate to express my gratitude to Robert Lamberton, my friend and colleague, for every- thing from editorial assistance and advice on botanical terminology to meditations on the relevance of the objects presented here to the modern world, and, most of all,for his sustaining and loving support and pa- tience. And finally, I thank my parents, to whom this volume is in part dedicated, and without whom, for reasons beyond number, it would not have been written. TABLE OF CONTENTS vii xi xiii 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 6 6 9 11 14 14 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 19 19 20 21 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 28 TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................... M MONOGRAMCLASS 29 .................................................................................. CLASS1 30 .................................................................................. CLASS2 30 .................................................................................. CLASS3 30 ......................................................................... LOCATIOONF SHOPS 31 .......................................................... TYPESOF ITEMSM ANUFACTURED 31 CHRONOLOG.Y.. .............................................................................. 32 ................................................................................ LONG-PETABLO WLS 34 ORIGINS......................................................................................... 34 CHRONOLOG.Y.. ................................................................................35 ........................................................................ ENDOF MANUFACTURE 36 ........................................................... LONG-PETABLO WLSIN THE AGORA 36 ............................................................... WORKSHOOPF APOLLODOROS 37 ............................................................. OTHERT YPESO F MOLDMADBEO WLS 37 ......................................................................... LOTUS-COROLBLOAW LS 37 ................................................................ CONCENTRIC-SEMICIBROCWLEL S 38 ........................................................................... NET-PATTERBNO WLS 39 ................................................................................... DAISYBOWIS 39 OTHERT YPESO F MOLDMADPEO TTERY.. ......................................................... 39 INSCRIPTIO.N..S.. ................................................................................... 40 SIGNATUR.E..S.. ................................................................................ 40 ........................................................................ MONOGRAMOSN MOLDS 41 ................................................................................... IMPORTEBDO WLS 42 CATALOGU..E.. ........................................................................................ 44 INTRODUCTI.O..N...................................................................................44 ............................................................. TERMINOLOGANYD CONVENTIONS 44 ......................................................................... DATESAND CONTEXTS 44 ................................................................................... THE CATALOGUE 45 DEPOSIT.S...........................................................................................94 INTRODUCTI.O..N.. ................................................................................. 94 ................................................................. STAMPEDAMPHORAHANDLES 94 COINS........................................................................................... 94 DATES........................................................................................... 95 ............................................................. TERMINOLOGANYD CONVENTIONS 96 ............................................................................... DEPOSITSUMMARIES 96 APPENDIXR:E VISEDC HRONOLOGOFY P UBLISHEADT HENIANH ELLENISTIGCR OUPS............... 107 ........................................................................ THE AGORAG: ROUPSA -E 107 THE KERAMEIKODSI:P YLONWELLB-1 ........................................................... 110 THE PIRAEUST: HE PIRAEUCS ISTERN............................................................. 111 .......................................................................................... CONCORDANCE 113 ................................................................................................. INDICES 120 PLATES LIST OF PLATES Photographs 1 Pinecone Bowls 2 Pinecone Bowls and Molds 3-6 Imbricate Bowls 7 Imbricate Bowls and Molds 8 Imbricate Molds. Floral Bowls 9-13 Floral Bowls 14 Floral Bowls and Molds 15 Floral Bowls with Figures 16 Floral Bowl with Figures. Figured Bowls (Idyllic) 17-33 Figured Bowls (Idyllic) 34 Figured Bowls (Idyllic and Mythological: Herakles) 35 Figured Bowls (Mythological: Theseus, Odysseus) 36 Figured Bowl (Mythological: Rape of Persephone) 37 Figured Bowls (Mythological: Rape of Persephone, Rape of Europa) 38 Figured Bowls (Mythological: Rape of Ganyrnede) 39,40 Figured Bowls (Mythological: Prokne? Opheltes? Herakles and Auge) 41,42 Figured Bowls (Mythological: Dionysiac trio) 43-45 Figured Bowls (Mythological) 46-53 Figured Bowls (Hunting) 54 Figured Bowls (Hunting) and Molds 55 Figured Molds. Fragments of Bowls (Imbricate, Floral or Figured) 56 Fragments of Bowls and Molds (Imbricate, Floral or Figured) 57 Fragments of Molds (Imbricate, Floral or Figured) 58 Fragments of Molds. Long-petal Bowls, Plain 59,60 Long-petal Bowls, Plain 61 Long-petal Bowls, Jeweled 62 Long-petal Bowls, Jeweled and Variants 63 Long-petal Molds, Plain 64 Long-petal Molds. Lotuscorolla Bowls 65 Lotus-corolla Bowl and Mold. Daisy Bowl. Imported Bowls (Imbricate and Floral) 66 Imported Bowls (Floral and Figured) 67 Imported Bowls (Figured) and Fragments (Imbricate, Floral or Figured) 68 Imported Bowls (Long-petal and Concentric-semicircle) 69 Imported Bowls (Net-pattern). Related Moldmade Vessels 70 Moldmade West Slope Amphora 71 Moldmade West Slope Krater 72 Tools used in the Manufacture of Moldmade Bowls xii LIST OF PLATES Drawings 73 Pinecone, Imbricate, and Floral Bowls 74 Floral and Figured Bowls 75-86 Figured Bowls 87 Long-petal and Imported Bowls (Imbricate and Floral) 88 Imported Bowls (Floral, Figured and Long-petal) 89 Imported Bowls (Concentric-semicircle and Net-pattern). Related Moldmade Vessels 90'91 Related Moldmade Vessels 92 Representative Profiles of Bowls 93 Representative Profiles of Molds 94 Conventional Floral Motifs on Bowls. Motifs from Bowls of the M Monogram Class and Classes 1-3 95 Monograms on Molds and Signatures on Bowls 96 Signatures on Lotuscorolla Bowls 97 Signatures on Net-pattern Bowl and Moldmade Guttus 98 Motifs from Bowls Produced by Hausmann's Workshop, Workshop A and the Workshop of Bion 99 Plan of the Athenian Agora in the Second Century B.c., with Locations of Deposits