Hellenistic Pottery, Athenian and Imported Moldmade Bowls

Abstract

This volume is the first of two to present the ceramic finds of the Hellenistic period from the excavations conducted by the American School of Classical Studies. Its scope is restricted to the mold-made hemispherical bowls manufactured from the late third century to the early first century B.C. in Athens. The material studied, consisting of some 1400 fragments of which about 800 were inventoried by the excavators, was unearthed between 1931 and 1973. Of the inventoried pieces, 364 fragments of bowls and molds are catalogued and discussed here, with 40 additional imported pieces, 6 related mold-made examples of other shapes, and 5 pieces used in the manufacturing process. The author first discusses the origins and dating of the bowls and then takes up the various types, in order of appearance on the historical scene: pine-cone, imbricate, floral and figured bowls and their workshops and chronology, long-petal bowls, and other special types such as concentric-semicircle and daisy bowls. The discussion is followed by a detailed catalogue including references to comparanda.