The Earliest Attic Potter/Painter Known by Name? The Epigraphy and Materiality of an Early Black-Figure Amphora from Mt. Hymettos

by Antonis Kotsonas

Hesperia, Volume 92, Issue 4
Page(s): 645-671
Stable URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/55/article/914394
Year: 2023
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ABSTRACT:

A black-figure amphora from the sanctuary on Mt. Hymettos preserves one of the longest Attic inscriptions of the 7th century B.C., presenting a remarkable case for the integration of a postfiring inscription into the morphology of an early Greek vessel. This article explores the materiality of the amphora and its lacunose inscription, proposing a new reconstruction of the text. The inscription’s peculiar arrangement and unusual verb suggest that it once included one of the earliest signatures of a craftsman in Attica. The study also investigates—but does not embrace—the possibility that the individual mentioned is the earliest Attic potter/painter known by name.