Black-glazed Ware

As a black varnish - a genus of ancient Greek ceramic whiteware is called. The modern term describes clay pottery with a black coating.

Black varnish ceramic was produced mainly in classical and Hellenistic period. During a fire was reduced by sintering of iron-containing clay a black shiny product. The pottery was made both on the potter's wheel, as prepared in the form bowls. The varnish was applied with a brush on a running wheel or by immersion in ausgeschlämmte slurry mass. Sometimes the glaze clay pottery was also decorated with white, red or golden painting. Usual were also stampings and in relief vessel walls. Within a century glaze clay pottery displaced in the course of the 5th century BC the red-figure ceramic from the markets of the Mediterranean. Since the Hellenistic period Greek workshops were not, but its production was mostly intended not only for the local or regional market. In recent years, the importance of the glaze clay pottery for the study of food culture, regional contacts and trading history greatly increases.