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THE POTTER-PAINTER'S WIFESome Additional Thoughts on the Caputi Hydria

The Caputi Hydria by the Leningrad Pajnterl has been discussed many times. Thisarticle is, therefore, not another treatise of the workshop scene and the methods de-picted therein. However, there appear to be some points of interest that have been

omitted in previous discussions. Before touching upon these one has to state again thatwe are dealing with a vase-pa'inters' workshop.

J.R. Green's article2 puts forward the case forametal-workers'studio: an adm'irablepiece of scholarship and all seems plausible'in theory. Yet, some pract'ica1 observationsdisturb the otherwise lucid arguments, and it seems not entirely beside the point of thisarticle to air some critical views.

1. There is no other metal-workers' shop - real or mytholog'ical - that so much as

hints at painting of metal objects3. Annng the identifiable 'tools of trade' depicted -even if not in'momentary' use - there are no illustrations of paint pots or brushes. One

couid say that negative ev'idence does not always account for much but in this case - and

statisticaliy speaking - it seems to prove a pojnt. When contrasted with il'lustrations ofundeniable potters' and/or painters'workshops,we do not get any metallurgical tools thatmay argue for some fringe involvement in metal-working. Actually, one is never left un-certain as to the metier involved and there are enough examples through the decades (overone century in fact) to assure the identificat'ion of a painter by the paint pot(s) and/orbru sh4.

One should not forget that these'tools of trade'are also meant to help identifythe place of action. These 'sign-posts' frequently'hang'on the imagined wall of theworkshop and so, for instance, do finished products of the rur"5. Their main purpose

appears to be in aid of correct reading of the scene, at least where it takes p1ace. In a

sense an add'itional form of narrative.

2. Green's observation that o,n1y the minor segments of the vessels are shown'inprocess of being decorated while the large body areas are left free of any figurative

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painting is factual. H'is suggestion that, therefore, it m'ight indicate metal shapes does

not necessar"ily fo1low6. Firstiy, the hydria does not itself sport any other figurativedecorat'ion than on the shoulder - the large body surface being left black or plain as itwere. This may be partiy due to the type of vessel frequently dealt with in restraint offigurative ornamentat'ion7. Also, a1l other known vase-painting scenes illustrate only thea c t o f p a i n t i n g and, apart from ornamentai decoration, n e v e r show a

figurativepainting inprogress. Theonlypossible i nd j cat i on (bytheareathatis be'ing painted) is the cup painterS occupied with the tondo decoration of his cup. But

we are'left ignorant as to the kind of decoration painted inside the bowl9.

3. Green's objection to the position'in which the vessels are heid while being worked

on, unfortunately, does not ho1d eitherl0 though one sympathizes with his idea of jm-

possible casualness of handling the vessels. He rightly points out the sizes and precariousangles at which the vases are balanced on the painter's 1ap, or gripped. Hardly realistic,one admits, but there are other unmistakable potters' scenes where even iarger vessels likea huge bellkrater are shown balanced (at a tip) on the potter's knees. Another cup paintert^tou1d appear to squash the cup when painting the exterior but a clay vessel it is and thatbefore having been fired11.

4" This brings us to the unusual size of the pots and their peculiar metallic 'look' -the main and most persuasive of Green's argumentsl?. tt this hydria were'in isolation and

no o""her vase-painters' illustrations known to us, one would be perhaps forced to agree

with h'is'interpretation. Howevern other potters'workshop scenes tend also to employ

exaggeration, at least with regard to the size of vesselrl3. A warning that one shouldnot take these representations too literaliy as faithful and truthful reproductions.The latter may also be said for the forms and allusions to metal shapes wh'ich might have

been intentional in view of the particular occasion.One should not ignore the fact that the Caputi Hydria is a special piece as regards

the scene. Here we are shown the crowning of the v'ictors of a competit'ion while being atwork. Is it surprising then that alnrost every feature is aimed at the portrayal of mastery

b.y the only means possible: exaggeration and elaboration of details, including thefurniture, the nobility of personages - and last but not least the very media the masterand his workshop non the prize for? One night possibly suggest that sincea) the painting of vessels is shown in meticulous and professional detail, and

b) the shapes surpass in their appearance mere clay vessels here we are being told of an

especial victot"y. The Leningrad Painter might have wanted to stress that it is the paintera n d po t te r combined in thesame person (andworkshop) whowon the prize forb o t h skills, a rare feat'indeed14.

5. There are other m'inor arguments to be put foruard against Green's identification.They cannot be conclusive but seem worth mentioning.A - In all known instances from workshop scenes there is only one example where a woman is

shown working in a potter's wonkshop: the Corinthian terracotta plaque in tlerlin15.She is comrnonly described as kneading clay in her hands. No other'public'tradeillustration (and though not numerous, they appear regulariy over many decades) shows

The Potter-Painter's llife

a woman, excepting our hydria. Here, too, the woman is seated and a'work-mate'

Another although vague suggest'ion is Athena herself. As l,lebster points out: "The

pottels had their own special link with Athena as their patron"16. In our particular'instance Athena's role is intended to stress the master and assisted by two l,likai she

is about to crown the central figure. But her presentational value might be twofold,if one accepts Webster's comment.

Itlost other prize-giving scenes show only a I'like, so Webster may vlel 1 be ri ght inciaiming that the potters reserved for themselves especial attention by Athena above

her attributed patronage over artisans in generai. Hephaistos - whenever mythologicalworkshop scenes are depicted - appears to be the natural and obvious choice formetal'lurgists and their part'icu'lar patron, none of which rules out the odd exception

of showing both deities.

One may also point out that, in general, the studios of metallurgists, pottens and, foninstance, sculptors do not look entirely identical. The smithy is usually accompanied

by its heav'ier trademarks like the anvi1, bellows and such like without hardly ever

alluding to architectural features. The sculptors and potter/painters appear to have

similar working space arrangements. They tend to look more like a school or shop witharchitectural 'indications alluded to by means of columns, platforms, etc.17.

Having put foruard considerations which are by no means out of the ordinary and, there-fore, one hopes a1l the more convincing, the following sha11 argue a point of view wh.ich

might raise some orthodox objections.

The ensu'ing discussion will return to the title: i,'ihy'the potter/pai nter's wifel? lihy

not'the poor slave-girl'or'the negledted paintress'? Indeed, why her at all? In a

roundaboutway she is the most significant figure in all her obvious insignificance. itis due to her presence most of all that one may be stimulated to regard this hydria from

the angle of social or class studies, focus on the vase as an'instance' of tjme.

The Caputi Hydria has been published repeatediy for its most inmediate merit: thestudy of workshops and the role of art'isans in Athenian soc'iety18.

Boardman aloneappears to have remarked on the u n u s u a I nature ofthe scene:

"His vase workshop, ... 'is an important scene, not least for the woman craftsman at the10right"". One cannot help gaining the impression that nrany authors either intentionally

ignore the unusual aspect of a woman craitsman by nrerely - or not at all - listing heramong the group, or they find nothjng unusuai about her presence; whjchever, nothing worthspecific mention.

The exceptions are Richter and Beazley, after Cloch6: both attribute her presence toher role as a woman craftsman20. The:i'r conciusion, proof for the existence of fernale

artisans, implies the norm; it does not disturb them or seeni in the least strange thatour woman 'is the only Attic exaniple ever to appearin illustrations of the artisans'world21. The latter can be easily gleaned from ilebster's careful stat'istical account ofrepresentations of women on Attic black-figure and red-figr." uurur22.

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28 Kehrberg

If the piece is viewed av,,ay from the statistica'l ang'le of female representation(s?)

in public workshops, theirimplicat'ion (of the normal) could be right. But it needs to be

presented in such a manner as to make the conclusion reasonably acceptable. A mere state-

ment seems hardly sufficient'

Ziomeck'i's cornment on the usefulness of vase-paint'ings is near'ly too obvious to re-.iterate, and yet the notion is sadly neglected over attributions of painters and other

interests in the study of Attic vases. He writes: ".'. que 1''etude de 1a peinture de

vases est devenue en ce temps un instrument particulidrement sensible, capable de re-

fl'eter avec une trds grande finesse les transformations intervenant alors dans la

soci-et-e"23. One may well think of the Caput'i Hydria as a case'in point a'l though he' too,

does not elaborate on this concept. The hydria should have provided support to his state-

ment w.ith more than generalitjes. Ziomecki follows the well trodden path in d'iscussing the

,milieu, and the 'two worlds' aspects'+ alluded to'in the painting and mentioned first by

Beazley (h'is "wish-picture" p.13).The text in FR may be wonderfully amusing to readzs

but hardly requires djscussion.

Apart from the elaborate scene, the high qual'ity of the paint'ing and relatively rare

detailed depicition of a painter's work, the hydria is also the only one of its type to

have been painted by the Leningrad Painter26. Yet one should not be surprised about this

isolated shape w'ithin the large range of the painter's repertoire. It is precisely at this

point in time, i.e" ca. 460 B.C. - the attributed date of the hydria, that these hydriai

are becoming more frequent2T. At this stage the'ir appearances are still somewhat sporad'ic

but Webster has remarked on a noticeable increase and preference made in conjunction with

an"increas'ing appearance of women's subject matter in red-figure vase-pa'intings28. These

scenes concentrate on women occupied in typical feminine activities, mostly inside the

house (spinning, weaving, making woo1, etc.). For the purpose of this artjcle it is best

to rema'in with the more respectab'le occupations of the 'ni5r, discovered' and publicized

glories of the bourgeoiS world of the fifth century 8.C.".

This duality - 'increasing popularity of hydria'i and illustratjons of women in thejr

domestic actjvjties - occurs at a time when Athen'ian society, if not Att'ic at'large, under-

goes a social change concerning especially its female citizens. lalhat was thought proper

in archaic t'imes, i.e. that the womanlwife directly assisted her husband in his bread-

winning efforts (be it'in the shop, workshop or on the t"ie1d)30,'is no longer considered

respectable in classical Athens. It may well have to clo w'ith the rise of respectability of

the artisan c'lass, not so1e1y populated by metics, aliens or slaves some of whom have been

made citizens at any "ut.31.

Steadiiy rising affluence by way of e.g. demand of espec'ia11y

Attic pottery surely helped its status to be elevated to the level of bourgeois respect-

ability. These and other factors, whether argued from the point of vjew of Athenjan

economy and export dipiomacy, or from the social structural change so innately tied with

financial success as the case may be and thus finally po'litically - all these points need

not be discussed here: they are well known from lengthy treatise of which Glotz's

pub'l.ication sti11 appears to be one of the rnost basic and factual representat'ion of

Athenian society and its cultural changes over the ug.r32.

The Potter-Painter,s Wife

Henceforth, the respectable Athen'ian woman is withdravrn from ,public View'. Thegynaeceum is now her nevt domicile vlhere she and her maids occupy themselves with purelyfemininecjuties, all connected with donrestic affairs such as the fabrication of clothes,tapestries and such like. It is her realm and in certain respects not unlike the orientalha""n',33. Being thus somewhat shut away from the outer worlci (of men) she is no lonEer seenin occupation with her husbanci's trade, certainly not to the pubfic eye. This may by nomeans have been intended derogatorily of rro*"n34. Greater affluence afforded craftsmenbetter means of employing staff for their workshops, leaving the woman to the purelydomestic duties she had had to fulfil even ciuring the archaic perioci. She is now allowecito concentrate on the fineries of her skill like, for instance, v;eav.ing.

Webster suggested that the vases depicting purely vlornanly scenes were ntost 1ike1y com-missioned as presents intendeci for the vlife or admired woman or girt35. Thus, with hershift away from public - at least vlorking-fife, her ciisappearance from public affairs,there arrived a nevr form anrj expression of adrnirat'ion for women. Her nevlly placed virtue'is to be found in her retirement, and'it stands to reason, nol depicted on these vasesspecifically designed for them. lrihat else are these scenes but like those comrlissioned forthe 'looser' sex anci beautiful young men? All of ther,i have but one aim: to please therecipient and bring favour to the bearer of the gift, be it husband, lover or friend.

lihat then is our woman doing in a potter-painter's vrorkshop at a time like this? Ad-mittedly, she is not prom'inently shown but tucked ar,ray from the central scene of activ.ities,and demurely and concentratecily doing her share of work.

Here t're have no such refined vloman of the gynaeceum; her station is not being.idealizeci,her position in life not made explicit and singular in its 'Xenophonian, virtues36. She isshown seated and raised above the common workshop grouncl but this can hardly be an allusionto her greater virtue as Beazley seerned to feel37. tt has to be uncierstood as seeing herworking away from the rnain workshop area, the platforut rnost likely being the verandah atthe back of the building, a shacied spot38. Most noticeable of all" she is the smallest instature although fu11y groln. L.ast but not 1east, all attention is being ciravrn away fromher and her actual phys'ica1 insignificance is underlined by her not being included in thecrowninq of all other occupants in the shop. lleitheri s she shown to drar,r any elaboratepatterns but patiently drawing simple lines. This r,ny mean that she is either proparing acielineation for ornamental zones to be filled in )ater by the other painters (as they areactualiy doing), or by herself. The forripr suggests itself rmre readily simply on accountof her general insignificant ,aura,.

There appears little point-in argu'ing for her being a slave - nothing could give evena remote clue to such a status3Sa. For that matter, the'unclerlings'may atso U" apprentices,employees or sluves39. The writer favours an interpretation of a potter-painter,s vl.ife be-ing represented. There can hardly be any proof but the ensuing discussion wjl'l substantiatethis choice. itlor can there be any'absolutisms'about the succeecling statements but'circumstantial evidence' has brought the fol'lowing to minc.l:

Kehrberg

In previous studies of our hydria there has been jnadvertently imposed a kind of para-

doxy by g'lossing over or entirely omitting a discussjon on the stated 'unusual' features.They are again:

Ln1. that'it is the only hydria of this specific type by the Leningraci Painter'-;2. the elaboration of the painting, paying careful attention to minutiae, and playing w'ith

a1 1 usionary exaggerations4l ;3. the woman's presence and her being left out of all glories42.

Added to these points one niay now ljst above rnentioned conventionai changes that took

place when the Leningrad Painter was commissioned for this vase. llowever, if one considers

all which has been said so far, the Caputi Hydria appears in a new light and the seeming

paradox becomes a matter of singu'lar evidence rather than renaining a puzzle.

The hydria has to be above all considered as a time-piece, a perfect instance when

several sociql and chronolog'ica1 issues meet. !,le are confronted with a scene which expresses

the old and new world of att'i tudes simultaneously. l,j'i thout reading too ntuch into the scene

one may come to the conclus'ion that the master (central figure) and ovlner of the workshop

is sholvn - or has himself shown if he cor,rmissioned the vase - to the best of old and new

conventions in a changing society.

Concentrating for the moment on the figures rather than the whole scene, one ntay suggest

the following: The master was probably still reared in the 'archa'ic' tradition of conventional

thought when a wife actually supported her husband'in his tracie. In this case, she would

have worked with him in his workshop as part of his general team of painters and/or potters.

The husband, our master, neither truly thought nor 'lived' in the new class'ical world of

thought. llovering at the threshold would be probably the most apt description. Though not

aged, he is shown as a mature and professionally assurecj person and so is hjs 'little'wife.His assjstants seem more youthful and their position - not their lack of sk.i1i, obviously -jndicates that they may still be'in trajning. They must be younger and, therefore, probab'ly

belong to the newer generation of thought, are over the threshold as it vlere. Yet, our

niaster is young enough to adjust to changing conventions, at least in part. Being w.ith one

foot in the new era as it were, he might have chosen the new fashionable trend, i.e. the

social gesture that makes women appear rflore frequently as subject matter. An expression ofgratitude tovrards her as his partner in marriage which to the'archajc'rn'ind'implied'inwork as well. She rnay have deserved spec'ia1 'mention', in particular, concerning the prize

won for his workshop - her unfailing support as his wife may have added to his success.

As other, nrore modern husbands want to please their wives vlith a present in form of a vase

depicting them in their most vjrtuous ro1e, so does our artist in showing his wife's contri-bution to the general household.

In all, one'is presented with a real archaic workshop scene where a wife js not out ofp1ace. But the actual representation of her in it is for novel sentiments: praising her as

the archaic virtuous woman and not as - which vlould have been then - an aristocratic idol

of perfected refinery. Because'it'is the latter or the expression of the latter that was

to become in classical t'imes the representation of feminine virtues adopted by the bourgeois/

artisan class, Hav'ing accepted the real purpose of her presence, it makes sense that the

fhe Potter-Painter' s Wife

woman is placed in the background and not taking part in the crowning series - so remoter

in fact, that she is even less aware of the event than any other figure. There should then

be no problem'in accepting also her doing a lesser task than the master and h'is assistants,nor that she is not included in the crowning. The husband is, the vl'ife be'ing an'extension'of him in her work. It would further explain why she is not involved in pa.inting elaboratepatterns for reasons having been suggested above43, 'in fact, her vthole rrrodest aspect.

Even in archaic times the wife would hardly have occupied a prominent place in pubficand her working contribution. She hardly could: who would take her place when ca11ed away

to other duties she no doubt haci to attend to being largely responsible for the running ofdomestic affairs?

If, however the vloman were not the master's wjfe why is she not shown equal to the

other assistants? Beazley's and Richter's conclusion does not justify the apropos mannerinwhich she is introciuced. Furthermore, a uorkshop that has v,ton a competition would hardlybe represented w'ith a tearn-member to be so poorly skilled as to escape all praise. It seems

reasonable to suggest that her presence cannotn therefore, be based on the actual victorywon through the excellence of the craftsmen and their products" It can only be for one

reason and that is her 'supporting' role as a wife44. It js the artist, her husband who

'in a sense 'private'ly'extends that praise and prize to her by allowing her to be includedin this scene at all. If women, be they free ernployees, slaves or wives piayed an equal

contributary part'in workshops as Beazley and Richter openly and others quietly assume orsuggesto why do we not find other pictorial references to their equal share in production?

The vase chosen for this particular scene may have two reasons. The hydria is as saidknown to be a prize for competitions and the subject matter and shape correspond nice-'ly45. W" may assume that it is also becoming a favourite among other shapes as a giftintended for women. The duality of purpose may thus also be apparent in the choice ofshape: a vase chosen for its subject matter and secondari'ly as a present to the depictedwoman. The secondary buyer from Ruvo, where the hydria was discor/ered, may not have been

aware of this dual nature. When he acquired the hydria he obviously 'intended it to be a

gift for a woman: the vase was founcl'in a vroman's tomb46. Beazley speaks of tvlo worldswhen discussing the real workshop and apparent unawareness of the 0iympians' p"es"nre47.tdhy deny a duality of two worldly worlds? After all, the scene has been painteci by an

artist who left nothing unsaid, be it by exaggeration or - as in the case of the woman -by m'i ni mi zati on.

If the former (the master himself, the decoration on his and the others' vases)gains significance by sheer sjze and elaboration then surely, a poignant lack of the same

(the woman and her s'imp1e task) to the degree of understatenent is also significant?

In view of the suggestions put forward it is not unusual that the Leningnad Paintershould have pa'inted this particular hydria. He is presumably a contemporary of the depictedart'ist and would most probably have shared in his view of life. It might even be a 'self-portrait'48. Th""" were also not yet that many commissions at his f,ime for gynaeceuni re-

31

32 Kehrberg

presentations and thus hydriai assigned for thjs purpose. All in all one can conclude thatthe Caput'i Hydria is quite a perfect example of the transition frorn the Archaic to theClass'ical world, in thought and action. Its transitjonal nature furnishes an itemizedsocjal reference to a specific point in time, i.e. about 460 B.c.

FOOTNOTES

I should like to thank J.R. Green and E. Bowie for reading and commenting on the draftof this paper.

When not otherwise indicated, abbreviations have been taken from Beazley, ARV,2nd ed.(1963)= Beazley, ARV2.

1 Beazley, ARVZ 5lL/73; now in the Torno CollectionH.A.III 1, p1. I.J.R. Green,-'The caputi Hv4tiql, in: JHS 91, 1961, 73-5. T.B.L.l,Jebster, potter and patronj,l^lr:::l!-ttl:!r, (loldon 1'972),..=.r,,rebster tgtz, fiq and 248 has acceptea ereen,s arsumentY|!n llstlng the hydria under "Metal-workers". So did others, among them,:. Boardmai,Athenj.an Red Figure Vases: The Archaic period (London 1975) = BoarJman, ARFV iSO, tig.AZS,"...,.detai1s of shape and disposition of pattein suggest iliat this is i metal-vasestudio, with chasing 3ld sj]ding in.progrbss."In op[6sition to his interpreiation are,forinstance, J.V. Nobie, The Techniquei of painteb'Attic potteiv tLonaofi idooj s+rr. anaH-A. Thompsg!: 'A Note on the Berlin'Foundry Cup', in: Essays in-Mdmory of Kari Lehmann(New York 1964) n. 2t.9f. g,g. Webster 1972, 248 and his list; see also J. Ziomeck.i, Les repr6sentatjonsd'artisans sur les vases attiques (Harsaw 1975) = Ziomec[i-i-9il,147t7.; O.jihn, ,Darstel_ly!9.1 des Handwerks und Handelsverkehrs auf Visenbildern' in Berichte aer ri.Ges.d.W.phi1.hist.Cl. (1867) pl.V.Illustrations and discussions can be found in: G.M.A.Richter, The Craft of AthenianPottery (1923).= Richter, craft; a9q11gr, pp. ; p.Hartwig, ,Die Anwendung-aer-Feaerfahnebei den griechischen Vasenmalern, JdI 14, 1899, l47ff.;"H.s.walters, Hiito"y oi AncjentPottery-l]- (19qq) part 1; G.Perrot and C.Chipiez, Histoire de t'art"dans l,iniiquit6Ix(htit l?1.1).3?+rr.; c.sinser.et.a1. (eds.),'A History or rJirrnoiogv-i io*rorj'isssy?59^f!t (9.M.4,Richter, 'ceramics', ch.B paii t); r'robri, op.cit. s4r{.; Ziomecki 1975iG.Seiterle, 'Die Zeichentechnik in der rbtfiguiigen Vaseninalerei,, nw l/i,igja, ;;,t.;J.R.Green, 'A Vase-painter .in Dunedin?, in: JfrS gg, tS7B, 15S.

Yll:..:.:lj!i:j:ntg?.cit., n.1e of Green's.hypothesis irnsiintiates .in its technolosicalobservations the objections raised her"e which are based on pure'ly iconographic compirisonsy].!!-9t1.:f !9i!t!o"p scenes. ln particu'rar, his "... .eison ior tivo rurlrpilnteri eachliYllls,two cups of glaze would appear to be that they contain glazes or lirterent consjst-ency- (55) seems most convincing- It can only support my suggeition: the most plausiblecraft association being-that with a painter i,r pbts, vi2. ,irade-mark,.E'9. corinthian-pinax, A. Furtwiinglei, nq I (18b6) [t.s, no.6 and Beichreibungen der va-.::TlilTlrlg'im Anti.quarium..I (Beriin 1885) 98, no. F.egi; for finishea p"oaucii in aworl(shop cf. Furtw6ngler, Vasensammlung.L ro.F 640 (= pernice, Jb 1997, 26); perrot,op.cit., 327, For other^ensigmas of trlde see arso: jahn, op.cit., 'loc. r:t.'= goardman,lfv r:g. .?9?;2,3; B.Graef-and_E. Langlotz, Die anti["n vlsun v6n aer nr<ropoiis inAthen^lI (l?29-) p].9: n9: 166 = Beaztey] pp.-pt. I,3; n. ereifenhagen, Grjechische Gijt-tg!:,?tlderheft 10.(Be11in, Staatl.i,|ui.19681 p1.-Iit lRtfrena frgine, o.inochoei Athenamodel ling a horse in_c1ay. That she is workin( in a scuiptor's woikshop for bronzes canbe seen from the tools); Boardman, ARFV fig. iaz;t ana r!g. zas (oourii cup,-sirrootscene). Nor should one.forget the vases haiging ibove the"woman'i head on 6e--iputiHydria: an o'inochoe and a kantharos. I doubi tfrat they are meant for refreshment purposes.The kantharos is a rather special form of cup mostly issociated wiir,r oionviiii'iest.ivi-ties or in rare .instances_with a symposium -'again mostly linked w.ith revels of theformer; whatever, certainly notforpiain everyiay use anl surely not in a workshop.Green, op.cit., 75.

'in Mi I an No. C278 = CVA Mi I ano Fasc.2 ,

The Potter-Painter's Wife 33

7 Beazley, ARVZ, see e.g. 555f. (nos.95-99) and for Earlier Manneris.ts565f. (nos.40-44) ="undecorated hydriair" apart from the shoulder segment. A preference for leaving largeareas of the body free of figurative decoration may be due to an establ'ished trad'it.ion.Like the panathena'ic amphora,the hydria is also a victory prize and ornamental traditionmay be bound by that fact. The other possible reasons are that the hydria is also a vasedesigned for fetching water. A task that is not always kind on delicate objects. As thecase may be, that part of the surface most likely to be damaged is left plain.

8 Graef-Langlotz, op.cit., loc. cit. (above, n.5).9 Figurative drawings on such m'inute scale probably proved too tedious, even djfficult.

in order to identify a painter of pottery there was really no need to be that specific.All that is needed is the sort of shorthand information such as the actual act of draw-ing and 'tools of trade' referred to above.

10 Green, op,cit., 73 (above, n.2).11 Singer, op.cit., p1. 17 fig.A; Noble,l2 Green, op.cit. , 73f,13 See e.g.illustrat'ions to be found in I

cruder cf.: ML. 28, 1922, l02tf., fig.girone); Richter, Craft fiS. 62.

L4 It might equal'ly imply that a v'ictory presupposed the skill of both or a prerequisite forentry to the competition. That there may be a d'istinction js suggested by the individualsignatures of either the potter or painter, very rarely combined in the same person.

15 AD I, pl.8, no.6 (cf. above, n.5).16 Webster L972,128. In ML. 28, t922, ll)f.'Di alcune recenti scoperte'Libertini comments

on the scene of the calyx-krater from S. Luigi and on our hydria especially: "... comebene interpretd lo Jatta a proposito del vaso d'i Ruvo, di Atena Ergane, ciod della deache sopraintende alle arti..., rTid che una speciale venerazione doveva godere da partedei ceramjsti..."; cf. also Greifenhagen, op.cit., 14 (above, n.5) and Thompson, op.cit.,I oc. ci t. ( above, n. 2 ) .L7 Cf. above cited examples in e.g. n.5. One of the most up-to-date catalogues withliterature concerning workshop scenes can be found in Ziomecki 1975,147ff,

18 E.g.P.C1och'e, Les classes, les m6tiers, le trafic I (Paris 1931) esp.43,50 and 52;M. Rostovtzeff, Greece, transl. by J.D.Duff (0xf. Univ. Press, New York 1963) 195,caption of fig. 18; Perrot-Chipiez, op.cit.,342ff.; G.Glotz, Le travail dans la Grdceancienne. Histoire economique de la Grdce (Paris i920) 33lff.Boardman, ARFV 180.Cioch'e, op.cit., 50: "Des femmes prenaient part dgalement au trava'i1 des potiersrt inref. to the C3pv1i Hydria. Richter, Craft 71: "The figure is of special interest to-day, for it shows that there were women potters then as now." And finally Beazley, PP.13: "The presence of this figure proves the existence of women vase-pa'inters in Athens."I cannot agree with Rictrter, Craft 80, fig.84 on helidentification of a woman potterwhen she cites a Greek stele in the l,letr.Mus. of N.Y. Her description alone should makeit plain that we are deal ing with an ordinary funerary relief of no specific note otherthan that it shows a woman with her toilet articles (pyxis and lekythos). P.M.Carro11came to the same conclusion when shown the illustration.webster 1972, ch.16 'Men and women' 2l6ff. and ch. 17 'lnlomen' 226ff. To my know'ledgehis work has not been foundv;anting.His later work, Athenian Culture and Society (London1973) ch. 7 'Potters and Patrons' 130ff., esp. 140f. presents h'is findings of the pre-vious pubf ication in a summary fashion.Ziomecki 1975,18.Beazley, -PP. 13 (after G. Jatta, Annali 1876,20ff.); see also cvA Milano, Fasc.2,H.A. III I : E.Paribeni's catalogue text to p1. I, p.3.FR II,307-9. In a sense it stands out as a period-p.iece in itself, the interpretationbeing so peculiarly laced with German traditions of h.is own time.Beazley, ARVZ, cf. above, n.7.Webster L972, 224, 227.Ibid., loc. cit.Erotic and'fun' scenes are best left out since it is a topic too interesting in itselfand really would not fit this rather formidable context, i.e. the respectabl6 woman.Cf. literature above, n.18; see also T.B.L.Webster, Athenian Culture and Society( London 1973 ) .31 J. Boardman, The Greeks Overseas, new and enlarged ed. (London 1980) 152f.; see alsoG1otz, op.cit. (above n.18) esp. 246tf.,269ff.,329ff., also for archaic times 78ff.Not withstanding the many academic arguments pleading for or against the rise ofrespectability of the artisan c1ass, the vase itself provides informatjon for the case:1. representation of self or a fellow craftsman precludes a) public acceptance of suchan act and b) impl.ies a certajn econom'ic status, i.e. sufficient income to either financea commission or to find the leisure necessary to make such a fancy and non-salable piece.2. In itself, the presentation of a craftsman as an idealized indiv'idual - see his clothes,

op.cit., fig.208(see above, n.4).

'iterature listed above, n.4; on a lesser scale and1 and p1 . I ( a calyx-krater from S. Lui gi near Cal ta-

19IU

27

?2

LJ24

25

2627a629

30

2fr, Kehrberg

eic. - deelares his professiona'l pride by right of vintue. l^Ihile on Archa'ic vases thetone often tends towards the comical or even ridjculous, in general, sho\,Jing the harsh-ness of the 'low' professional l"ife, the mood in Classical pieces is distinctly soberand respectable, not lacking in grace. Flogging scenes and such like are graduallysuperceded by workshop pictures imbued with serenity and industrious application.General scenes are replaced by specifj'c instances or events, denoting the individual'spr:sltion by means 0f accessories. In short, to afford a 'portrait' needs a solid income,to be'idealized the recognition of skill and the person - both of which are combinedanC literally praised in our scene. The case for a ra"ised position of the artisan classhas been argued on political fines by B.Fehr in Hephaistos 3, 1981 "Zun religionspoli-tischen Funktion der Athena Parthenos im Rahmen des Delisch-Att'ischen Seebundes - TeilIIi". 0n p. 77 (the Parthenon frieze) he concludes "Der Parthenonfries gibt demnacheir-ie geraffte llbersjcht i.jber die dem Demos als Handlungsmiigljchkeiten zur Verfijgung ste-henden technai, gegl.iedert in solche, die sich auf althergebrachte Vorstellungen vonkbrperijch-charakterlicher Tijchtigkeit (arete) bez'iehen - die ehemaligen adi'igen'Tu-genden's'ind im Fries zu biirgeriichen technai geworden -, und solche, die der Erzeu-gung lebensnotwendiger Giiter dienen." Fehr's statement corresponds directly to my ex-pianation of the new ideal concep'Lion of the Classical woman, the inspiration of whichcumes frorn the Archaic ai jstocratjc one, see here p.30f.Glotz, op.cit., passim"i^lebster's L972,241 coniment as !egards women's scenes on vases ".,. an'immensely in-creaseti interest in women from the time of the Persian l,Jars" was probably not meant tobe intenpreted litera.11y. Yet, one cannot refrain from noticing certain similaritjesbetyreen ihe harem and the gynaeceum. See also tJalters, op.cit. (above, n.4) 172f. wherehe says "... especially on R.F. vases of the fine sty1e, are scenes taken from the lifeof the women'$ apartmentS ( yuvu.r*.rvitrq )."E. and F.K. Ddrners'statement in Al,J S, Sondernummer (1977) 'Das Leben der Frau inA'ihen' 53: "0ie Eecleutungslosigkeit der Frau in Athen jst immer v.t'ieder mit Verwunderungfes.Lgesteljt y;oneien" appears somewhai rash and simplistjc. 0n p. 59 they refer toTilemisbokles {PluLarch. Them. 18) who half jokingly admits his wife's importance onlyseeond tr that of her son's when he places the latter above all. it may be a teaserbut.is not void flf some truth. The Dbrners contradict themselves here as they alsoappear to m'is'interpret Pericles when a1luding to his saying "dass von einer gllten Fraunicht die ilede sein d'il,.fte" (59). Pericles meant obvious]y a decent and respectablewoman nct giving cause t0 gossip - not, however, denying her any"importance whateverlThere are, after ali, many shades to importance.Hebster i972, 222, Z?4 and 227 on shapes; jdem 1973, (above, n.30) 140: "Consideringthe restrictions on women in Athens, they were probabiy more often gifts from men thanpurchases by the women themselves.-[he vases reflect this shift of interest earlierthan literature" but [uripides started writing tragedies about women in 455.."".Xenophon, Oeccn., esp. Vil 32,36-42 {Loeb C1ass. Library 168): position and dutiesof wives.Beazley, PP.lZ where he says: "She has no Nike, but her stool stands on a dais." Itciin $nly be read one wayl Beazley understands her'elevated' position as a substitutef'cr noi being crowned or hjnts at her being out of the ordinary. What else could theLrut iilply - a ccnsclatian prize? Uhichever, he was not explicit and, one feels, quiteiEttnt'ir:nal1.y sr:.A nrere thought 0n economiz"ing asperts in yase-paint'ings: could the ornamental borderfrari'ing the seene also be unCerstood as an architectural allus'ion? In that case itcni;id sr:ggest the outer wall at the back of the porch on which the woman is seated.ef. e.g. N, l{irnmelmann, Archiiologisches zum Problem der griechischen Sklaverei, Akade-mie d*r lJissenschaften und der Literatur (Mainz 1971) passinr. 0n p. 10 Himmelmann says:"Die wenig zahlrejehen Han<jwerkerbilder stellen keine g'leichberechtigte Thematjk vonailgrmeiner geselischaftl icher Bedeutung dar" s0ndern entspringen persiinlichen Bedijrf-nissen der Verfertiger und bleiben auf diesen persbniichen Zweck beschriinkt." Admitted-ly, i;h1s passage rsfers to the earliest known examples and their neligious function.llo',.;ever, his statement rnay well apply to our scene and other similar vase paintingsiniended for prr:fane use,Rc:sLovtzeff, op"cit. (cf. above, n.18) i77 mentions on the topic of slaves in the fifthcentnry: "An Athenian conservative of this century, in the course of a mal !gnantparnphlet directed against Athen'ian democracy, notes with good reason that it is jm-

,rassible to distinguish slaves and aljens from citizens in the streets and squares ofAtt-ienso because all classes dress alike and l'ive in the same way." (cf.Pseudo-Xenophoni,i0). If one sflans over Attic vases and their'pictures' ihis comment appears to be

confirmed, certainiy with regard to women. Their mode of dress and hairstyie may be

var.ied but bears no clues as to lheir station.Cf , abi:ve, n. 7.Cf. above, n.4 and P.2ti.

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34

:ti

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37

38

39

4041

35

42 Rostovtzeff, op.cit. 195, caption to fig. 19i "Jh. poor g'i11 got.no prize." See-a1sog.-Pi"ibeni, ob.cit.,1oi. cit. labove,'n.24): "... destra una p'iccola donna issata su

un podio Iavo.ra sola e inonorata."Cf. above p.29.lpu"i t.or'piiny, nat.hist.xxxv,40 on women painters.in Roman times, B'Kdser informed

mi: about an ear-ty r.i:iiSr". vaie signature that apart from the proposed Douris'identi-ficat.ion-.if taken-iit.iufiy- shouid beawoman'i: Hyp s it ([RI.l ,.113,^n.2);on if,. same subject cf. also-M. Robertson, A H'istory oiGreek Art (Cambridge 1975)

50 if.If this is in fact so, it can only support my po'int of view. An established femalepiirt"i wouta nave be6n g'iven eqrit pi^btessi6nit attent'ion, i.e. prominent position'iif.1.," other painters ind atsd fravb been crowned. If she was not skilful enough then

her actual presence-rorfa f,uraiy have been admitted for the very occasion.il.lustratedon tfre hydria. Everyth'ing in this scene aims at perfection.by way of,appligd,lni'ritiui.'"iupertat'ivLs. Ii would be incongruous, ind a jarring note, to include,her and

thus admit to second-rate quality of one-of the team members. A slave girl would have

Ueen too insignificant to be shoirn at all without possessing especial merit, the latterof which is s6own for ancl of everyone and according to 'scale''Weniter 1972, esp. ch. 13 where he di scusses Ni ke' s ro1 e ( s ) , p.77.2ff .

ii"iii.V, pp. i3; b.-Jatia, Annali 1876, Zlff-. -('Ula scutiti ai pittura.vasaria dipinta');see atio Webster 1973 (above, n.30) 134,137f. where he discusses red-figure vases ex-ports to Etruria and the secondhand market in general.-beazley, PP. 13f.; pariUeni, op.cit.,3 elaborites on Beazley's "wish-picture" and the

two-worlds aspect.48 J.R. Green's suggestion in a letter to the writer.

The Potter-Painter's Wife

SOURCE OF ILLUSTRETTONS:

Taf. 1a: JHS 81, 1961, Taf' 6.1

Taf. 1b: JHS 81, 1961, Taf. 7.2

Taf. lc: CVA Milano Coll. "H'A." (II) (Italia 2272) Taf'

4344

4546

47

1.3

Anschrift der Verfasserin:

Ina KehrbergtJniversitg of SgdnegDept. of Archaeol-ogg

Sgdneg NSW 2006

AustraLia

Tafel 1

a - c: Hgdyig bg the Leningrad painter. Milan Torno CoiLection C 27g