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Source Description
The distinctive shape of this amphora—wide strap handles, conical neck, and ribs running around the upper body—is a trademark of the potter Nikosthenes, who signed his name below the partially restored handle (together with the verb <em>EPOIESEN</em>, for “made”). Nikosthenes signed nearly 150 surviving vases, more than any other named potter or vase-painter. Made in Athens with an Etruscan clientele in mind, Nikosthenic amphorae emulate precious metal and ceramic bucchero vases made in Etruria (central Italy), where many examples have been discovered. The painted figures include dancing youths (on the neck), sphinxes between lions (on the shoulder), and a continuous procession of dancing satyrs alternating with women (on the body).
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
147608
label
Black-Figure Nikosthenic Amphora (Storage Vessel): Dancing Youths; Sphinxes and Lions; Satyrs and Maenads
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
147608
contentType
object
title
Black-Figure Nikosthenic Amphora (Storage Vessel): Dancing Youths; Sphinxes and Lions; Satyrs and Maenads
description
The distinctive shape of this amphora—wide strap handles, conical neck, and ribs running around the upper body—is a trademark of the potter Nikosthenes, who signed his name below the partially restored handle (together with the verb <em>EPOIESEN</em>, for “made”). Nikosthenes signed nearly 150 surviving vases, more than any other named potter or vase-painter. Made in Athens with an Etruscan clientele in mind, Nikosthenic amphorae emulate precious metal and ceramic bucchero vases made in Etruria (central Italy), where many examples have been discovered. The painted figures include dancing youths (on the neck), sphinxes between lions (on the shoulder), and a continuous procession of dancing satyrs alternating with women (on the body).
date
c. 530–510 BCE
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60756899
creators
10896
379269
genreSpecific
Ceramic
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Diameter: 16.9 cm (6 5/8 in.); Overall: 31.1 cm (12 1/4 in.); Diameter of rim: 13.3 cm (5 1/4 in.); Diameter of foot: 10.7 cm (4 3/16 in.)
cul
Greek, Attic
accession
1974.1
Source extras
tec
ceramic
tombstone
Black-Figure Nikosthenic Amphora (Storage Vessel): Dancing Youths; Sphinxes and Lions; Satyrs and Maenads, c. 530–510 BCE. Signed by Nikosthenes (Greek, Attic, active c. 545–510 BCE), attributed to Painter N, Thiasos Group (Greek, c. 530–510 BC). Ceramic; diameter: 16.9 cm (6 5/8 in.); overall: 31.1 cm (12 1/4 in.); diameter of rim: 13.3 cm (5 1/4 in.); diameter of foot: 10.7 cm (4 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1974.10
collection
GR - Greek
inscriptions
inscription
inscription Under handle A/B:
didYouKnow
The painter of this vase decorated nearly every available surface; the undecorated handle section is modern.
citations
citation
Beazley Archive. n.d. <em>Beazley Archive Pottery Database</em>. Oxford: Beazley Archive.
page_number
BAPD 201945
citation
Padgett, J. Michael. “Book Reviews: Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. USA 35: The Cleveland Museum of Art 2, by Jennifer Neils and Gisela Walberg. Pp. 64, pls. 57. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland 2000. $100. ISBN: 0-940717-61-1 (cloth).” <em>American Journal of Archaeology, </em>Vol. 106, No. 1 (January 2002): p. 136.
citation
Beazley, J. D. Attic <em>Black-Figure Vase-Painters</em>. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956.
page_number
p. 219, No. 24
citation
Arias, P. E., and Max Hirmer.<em> A history of 1000 years of Greek vase painting.</em> New York, N.Y.: Abrams, 1962.
page_number
p. 294, color plate XIII
citation
Beazley, J. D.<em> Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters</em>. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963.
page_number
p. 122, No. 4
citation
Arias, Paolo Enrico.<em> Storia della ceramica di età arcaica, classica ed ellenistica e della pittura di età arcaica e classica</em>. Torino: Soc. Ed. Internazionale, 1963.
page_number
pl. 57.1
citation
Beazley, J. D., J. D. Beazley, and J. D. Beazley. <em>Paralipomena: Additions to Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters and to Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters</em> (Second Edition). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971.
page_number
104
citation
Boulter, C. G., Jenifer Neils, and Gisela Walberg.<em> Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum</em>. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1971.
page_number
pp. 26-27, PLS. 60-62, PLS.16, 100.28
citation
Eisman, Michael M. "Nikosthenic Amphorai: The J. Paul Getty Museum Amphora." <em>The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal</em> 1 (1974)
page_number
p. 43, n. 3
citation
Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1974." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 62, no. 3 (1975): 62-102.
page_number
p. 65, fig. 1
citation
Eisman, Michaeol M. "Attic Kyathos Production." <em>Archaeology </em>28, no. 2 (1975).
page_number
p. 82
citation
Tiverios, M. "The 'Tyrrhenian' (Attic) Amphorae, Their Relation to 'Pontic' (Etruscan) Amphorae and to Nikosthenes" (in Greek) Archaiologike Ephemeris (1976).
page_number
pl. 20a
citation
Simon, Erika, Max Hirmer, and Albert Hirmer.<em> Die Griechischen Vasen.</em> München: Hirmer, 1976.
page_number
pp. 81-82, color pl. XXII
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 22
citation
Kontoleōn, Nikolaos Michaēl. <em>Stēlē: tomos eis mnēmēn Nikolaou Kontoleontos</em>. Athēna: To Sōmateion tōn philōn tou Nikolaou Kontoleontos, 1980. .
page_number
pl. 80
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Jenifer Neils.<em> The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 10, fig. 12
citation
Schöne, Angelika. <em>Der Thiasos: eine ikonographische Untersuchung über das Gefolge des Dionysos in der attischen Vasenmalerei des 6. und 5. Jhs</em>. v. Chr. Göteborg: P. Åström, 1987.
page_number
p. 278, no, 247
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. C<em>lassical Art: A Brief Guide to the Collection.</em> Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 1989.
page_number
p. 9, fig, 16
citation
Kozloff, Arielle P. "Classical Art: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum." Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art (1989): p. 9.
page_number
9
citation
Carpenter, Thomas H., J. D. Beazley, Thomas Mannack, Melanie Mendonça, and Lucilla Burn. <em>Beazley Addenda: Additional References to ABV, ARV² & Paralipomena. </em>Oxford: Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 1989.
page_number
p. 58
citation
Baumann, Hellmut, William T. Stearn, and Eldwyth Ruth Stearn. <em>The Greek Plant World in Myth, Art, and Literature. </em>Portland, Or: Timber Press, 1993.
page_number
p. 218, fig. 433
citation
Immerwahr, Henry R.<em> A Corpus of Attic Vase Inscriptions (CAVI).</em> Chapel Hill: UNC Chapel Hill, 1998.
page_number
p. 922, no. 3205
citation
Tosto, Vincent. <em>The Black-Figure Pottery Signed Nikosthenesepoiesen.</em> Amsterdam: Allard Pierson Museum, 1999.
page_number
p. 213, no. 28, pl. 16, fig. 32, pl. 68 AP 3.2, pl. 100
citation
Smith, Tyler Jo. <em>Komast Dancers in Archaic Greek Art</em>. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
page_number
p. 327, pl. 21c
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:34:34.291000
sourceId
147608
dept
Greek and Roman Art
coll
GR - Greek
med
ceramic
creatorTags
male
gender unknown
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
3d9433fab0ea0f0f