An oinochoe is a form of an ancient Greek wine jug, which would likely have been used at the symposium (a male drinking party). The decoration and colour palette used on this vase is typical of Apulian pottery. Gnathia, a city in southern Apulia, was famed for examples such as this, with production beginning around 360 – 370 BC. A simple palette would have been used to decorate such ceramics, mainly a black gloss glaze with additional decoration made in white, red, yellow ochre and sometimes purple pigments. The colourful pigments were then applied directly onto the pot’s black glaze – one of the defining traits of Gnathia-ware pottery. Decoration was often simple, with floral and geometric motifs with occasional addition of figures.
To find out more about different types of Greek vessel please see our relevant blog post: Collecting Greek Vases.
