General Information

West Slope is a decorative style characterized by incision plus added white and superposed red, orange, or pink paint atop black slip. It was used to decorate table wares, primarily cups, plates, kraters, and wine jugs (oinochoai). It was invented by Athenian potters towards the end of the fourth or beginning of the third century BCE, possibly inspired by the so-called Gnathia decorative style developed in southern Italy in the fourth century BCE (Rotroff 2003, p. 37). In the early-mid third century BCE many other producers began making their own versions of West Slope style vessels; known centers occur at coastal sites around in the Black Sea, in Asia Minor (Assos, Ephesos), and Cyprus (Paphos, Nicosia) - and certainly many other places as well. Most of these "local" West Slope styles did not travel; but some, such as the production of Pergamon, were of very high quality and examples have been found at sites some distance away (e.g., Troy/Ilium, Sardis).

West Slope-style is named for the West slope of the Acropolis of Athens, where vessels decorated in this style were first identified by Carl Watzinger (1901; for further studies see Homer Thompson 1934, pp. 438-447 and Susan Rotroff 1997, pp. 38-42).

West Slope is a decorative style characterized by incision plus added white and superposed red, orange, or pink paint atop black slip. It was used to decorate table wares, primarily cups, plates, kraters, and wine jugs (oinochoai). Designs are usually floral and/or geometric, including swags, ivy leaves, garlands, and concentric boxes. 

Westabhang Keramik