Gnathia vases
ancient Apulian pottery type
Gnathia vases are a type of pottery belonging to ancient Apulian vase painting of the 4th century BC.
They are named after the ancient city of Gnathia (now Egnazia) in Eastern Apulia. There, the first examples of the style were discovered in the mid-19th century. Their production began in Apulia around 370/360 BC, in parallel to the local version of the red-figure style which developed tendencies towards polychromy around that time. Typical of Gnathia vases is the application of different paints directly onto the glazed vase body. Additionally, internal details could be added by incision. The themes depicted include erotes, images from the life of women, theatre scenes and dionysiac motifs. Figural, painting is often limited to the upper half of the vessel body, while the bottom half often bears only ornamental decoration. The most common shapes were bell kraters, pelikes, oinochoai and skyphoi. The most important artists are the Konnakis Painter and the Rose Painter.
Initially, a broad palette of paints, including white, yellow, orange, red, brown, green and others, was used, but after 330 BC the extensive use of white paint dominated.
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