Black ware with a metallic look
The pottery that most people associate with the Etruscans is bucchero, a glossy, black ceramic that first appears in the 7th century BCE. The name is a modern one, borrowed from an Italian word for a type of dark pottery, and the Etruscans themselves would not have used it. Early examples are usually dated to about 675 BCE, with the city of Caere (modern Cerveteri) often named as an early centre, although the ware was soon made in many parts of Etruria.
Bucchero is unusual because the black colour usually goes right through the clay body, not only on the surface. Potters achieved this by firing the vessels in a kiln with limited oxygen, a method called reduction firing. In that atmosphere, iron compounds in the clay change chemically, and carbon can be taken up, which turns the pottery grey or black. The surface was normally burnished before firing, which gives the characteristic sheen. The exact kiln control and the sequence of firing steps are still studied by specialists, and details vary between workshops, so it is best to describe the method in general terms.
Thin and heavy bucchero
Scholars usually distinguish two broad phases.
- Fine or “thin-walled” bucchero (often called bucchero sottile) belongs mainly to the 7th and early 6th centuries BCE. The vessels have very thin walls, sharp ridges and crisp profiles. Many look like metal vessels, and the shapes and decoration seem to copy bronze or silver. Typical forms include the kantharos (a two-handled drinking cup), the chalice, jugs and small cups.
- Heavy bucchero (bucchero pesante) is more typical of the 6th century BCE and later. Walls are thicker, and surfaces carry moulded relief decoration, often made with cylinder stamps rolled over the clay. The vessels are bigger and can look more ornate, though the quality is more uneven.
By the 5th century BCE the fashion was fading, and other ceramics took over.
How bucchero was shaped and used
By the time bucchero appears, the potters wheel was in regular use in central Italy, which allowed the thin walls and symmetry of the fine ware. Decoration might be incised, stamped, or applied as small relief figures. Some pieces carry painted or scratched inscriptions, including owners’ names or dedications, and these provide valuable examples of early Etruscan writing.
Bucchero was used for drinking, serving and storing liquids, and for offerings in tombs. It appears in houses, sanctuaries and graves, and large quantities were deposited with the dead, which is one reason so much survives. It was also traded. Etruscan bucchero has been found in places such as southern France, Carthage and the Aegean world, suggesting that it travelled with wine and other goods, although the quantities abroad are small compared with those in Etruria.
Greek vases in Etruscan hands
Bucchero was only part of the picture. From the 8th century BCE onward, Greek traders were active in Italy, and the Greek settlement at Pithekoussai on the island of Ischia was an early meeting point. Etruscan elites became keen buyers of Greek goods, first Corinthian vases and later Athenian ones.
Cemeteries at cities such as Vulci and Cerveteri have produced a very large number of Athenian black-figure and red-figure vases, and some of the finest known Greek painted pottery was found in Etruscan tombs, not in Greece. Two well-known examples are the Euphronios krater (a large mixing vessel), found in a Cerveteri tomb, and the Exekias amphora from Vulci, now in the Vatican. These were expensive objects, and many of them seem to have been valued for use at banquets in the manner of a Greek symposium, as well as for their imagery.
A point of scholarly debate is whether Etruscans understood and enjoyed the Greek myths on these vases in the same way as Greek buyers. Some vases were clearly made with the Etruscan market in mind, in shapes and with scenes that sold well there. Others seem to have been chosen by Etruscan owners for themes of heroes, banquets and the afterlife. The evidence suggests that Etruscans looked at Greek stories through their own beliefs, but our understanding is incomplete.
Etruscan copies and variations
Etruscan workshops also copied and adapted Greek ideas.
- Etrusco-Corinthian ware imitated Corinthian pottery with animal friezes in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE.
- Black-figure pottery was made locally, including the so-called Pontic ware, usually dated to the second half of the 6th century BCE. Its origins and the identity of its makers are still discussed.
- Red-figure vases were produced in Etruria from about the 5th century BCE, with larger output in the 4th century BCE. The quality is generally lower than the best Athenian work, but the scenes often reflect local interests.
Because the archaeological record is dominated by tombs, painted pottery is overrepresented, while everyday kitchenware is less studied. Archaeologists use methods such as pottery seriation to put these wares in order, comparing shapes and decoration to build a relative chronology, and then link the sequence to other evidence.
Why the pottery matters
Etruscan pottery shows both local invention and openness to outside ideas. Bucchero is a distinctive local product that imitated expensive metalwork at a lower cost, while the imported Greek vases show the reach of Mediterranean trade by ancient seafaring routes. The two meet in the tombs, where black cups and painted Athenian vessels were sometimes buried side by side.
The word “mysterious” in the title should not be overstated. The basic techniques and chronology of bucchero are well studied. What remains uncertain is the precise symbolism of many decorations, the organization of workshops, and the extent to which particular styles were meant for the living or for the dead. Debates about origins and influences continue, as with Greek sculpture and pottery in the wider Mediterranean, but the main outline of Etruscan ceramics is reasonably clear.