Greek
Burial Pottery
The Greeks made pottery for as great a variety of
purposes as any ancient or modern people. Bricks and
tiles were used as we use them, for architectural and
other purposes. When the custom prevailed of burning the
dead, vases were used to receive the ashes. Sepulchral
vases were of many forms, and sometimes costly vases,
which had been treasures of art to the living, were
devoted to the final use of holding their dust. The
ashes of the victor at the games sometimes reposed in
the vase which had been the prize of his triumph.

The
larger number of vases and objects in Greek pottery
which have been recovered in modern times were deposited
with the dead as furniture of the tomb. In frequent
cases numbers of vases, large and small, are found in
one tomb, standing on the floor or hanging on the walls.
These sometimes appear to have been articles prized by
the deceased while living, and placed by his body with
some sort of feeling, not without occasional
illustration in our own time, which finds comfort in
leaving the dead accompanied by some of the associations
of life. Many of the vases decorated in colors on white
grounds seem to have been made for sepulchral uses, and
were placed in the tombs immediately after finishing.
The decorations of these are in water-colors, not fixed,
but easily rubbed off by handling. Some of these are
among the most delicate and beautiful works of Greek
art. The colors are frequently missing, having fallen
off or disappeared, leaving only the outlines, traced
with delicious taste and skill. Other vases have fixed
white grounds.

There is not space for description of the
exceptional forms and colors in which pottery was made
and decorated by the Greeks. A small bottle in the
Cesnola collection is in the form of a dove with human
head (III.57). Another, only three inches long, is a
perfect representation, in form, color, and surface
roughness, of an almond.

The ornamental statuettes of the Greeks in pottery
ranked in comparison with all other ancient and modern
art as highly as Greek sculpture in marble. Exquisite
little images are found in great numbers in various
localities--at Athens, Tanagra, in Cyprus, and
elsewhere. These were sometimes brilliantly colored,
occasionally only washed with white. In the Metropolitan
Museum of Art are many examples of this delicious work.
A small image of a child waking out of sleep is an
exquisite specimen. The bottle which is illustrated (58)
in the form of a sleeping slave of giant muscle is
beyond praise.
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Burial Pottery
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