Lot 5012

Description

Etruscan, 7th century B.C., Bucchero earthenware, olpe, inscribed below "Found at Nola (Campania) bt (bought) of Lawrence Dec. 1896, P.1403". Very fine.

Ex Mark and Susan Marshan Collection with certificate, it was acquired from the Pitt-Rivers Museum. The famous Bucchero earthenware which is most often associated with the Etruscans, became common between about the 7th and early 5th century B.C. Characteristically, the ware is black, sometimes gray, and often shiny from polishing. The colour was achieved by firing in an atmosphere charged with carbon monoxide instead of oxygen. This is known as a reducing firing, and it converts the red of the clay, due to the presence of iron oxide, to the typical bucchero colours.