Nicosthenes
Nikosthenes was a potter who lived around 545-510 BC. Ran a workshop in Athens . Mainly vessels in the black-figure style were made in this, but also some bilinguals and red-figure vases.
The signature Nikosthenes epoíesen - Nikosthenes made it is the most common pottery signature from ancient times. It has been found on 139 black and 10 red-figure painted vessels. Of particular importance were the Nicosthenian amphorae , which mimicked an Etruscan Bucchero shape. About 130 of them alone have survived. Most are made by Nikosthenes, a few are signed by Nikosthenes but can only be attributed to his workshop. Most of the painting was done by a single painter. It is unclear whether this was also Nikosthenes. These painters called painter Nikosthenes or painter N . The other vessels were painted by various other painters. Some objects with his signature have to be ascribed to other painters as well as other potters. Some of the vases signed by Nikosthenes as a potter were painted by a red-figure vase painter who was given the emergency name Nikosthenes painter after him .
As a potter, Nikosthenes mainly created smaller vessels, but was always on the lookout for new shapes when it came to form, and did not ignore impressions from other countries. The search for the new did not end with the form, even with painting techniques Nikosthenes was always on the lookout for innovations. For example, he used the six-technique (figures in red-brown or white color on glossy tone). As a potter he worked with many, often changing painters, including Lydos , Oltos , Epiktetos and the Nikosthenes painter . All these painters also worked for Pamphaios , a younger colleague of Nikosthenes, who also adopted various forms from him. Many of these unsigned imitations are difficult to distinguish today from the works of Nicosthenes. In addition to the painters already mentioned, Nikosthenes employs other well-known artists, including the BMN painter and other artists of the Bellerophon class .
Most of the amphorae of Nikosthenes were exported to Caere , the rest mainly to Vulci . Almost none of the potter's works were found outside of Etruria . The works imitating the Bucchero pottery were mainly found in Caere (now Cerveteri ). What is interesting is that Nikosthenes reveals a special business acumen here. On the one hand, it seems to be oriented towards the requirements of the important Etruscan export market, on the other hand, it supplies the various cities there according to their different tastes.
literature
- John D. Beazley : Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters , Oxford 1956, pp. 216-235.
- John D. Beazley: Attic Red-figure Vase-painters . 2nd ed. Oxford 1963, pp. 122-123.
- John Boardman : Black-Figure Vases from Athens. A handbook (= cultural history of the ancient world . Vol. 1). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1977, ISBN 3-8053-0233-9 , pp. 71-73.
- Vincent Tosto: The Black-figure Pottery Signed NIKOSTHENES EPOIESEN (= Allard Pierson Series 11). Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam 1999, ISBN 90-71211-30-4 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Nicosthenes |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Painter Nikosthenes |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Greek potter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 6th century BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | 6th century BC BC or 5th century BC Chr. |