Attic Painted Vases from Colchian Cemetery in Pichvnari

The Pichvnari cemetery is rich in attic painted vases. Besides massive goods of different shapes and size one can find the Niobid, Beldam, Bowdoin, Polygnotos, Shuvalov, Aischines and other masters works there. It should be noted that attic painted ceramics being essential part of funeral items are revealed on Colchian grave of Greek times proving that local population shared that Greek funeral ritual. The first painted pottery is revealed on the Colchian cemetery in 1975. It is a red figure squat lekythos which is dated back to 5 th c BC by Mrs Tamar Sikharulidze (1992). There is a winged female wearing wide sleeved tunic with cloak on the lekythos. The figure is turned rightward. The female takes offertory with her right hand out of a bag and spreads over the altar. According to its style it should be Nike’s or Psyche’s figure.


Dzneladze Nino Batumi Archaeological Museum
The Pichvnari cemetery is rich in attic painted vases.Besides massive goods of different shapes and size one can find the Niobid, Beldam, Bowdoin, Polygnotos, Shuvalov, Aischines and other masters works there.It should be noted that attic painted ceramics being essential part of funeral items are revealed on Colchian grave of Greek times proving that local population shared that Greek funeral ritual.
The first painted pottery is revealed on the Colchian cemetery in 1975.It is a red figure squat lekythos which is dated back to 5 th c BC by Mrs Tamar Sikharulidze (1992).There is a winged female wearing wide sleeved tunic with cloak on the lekythos.The figure is turned rightward.The female takes offertory with her right hand out of a bag and spreads over the altar.According to its style it should be Nike's or Psyche's figure.
There is revealed a red figure squat lekythos with simple "running dog" orna ment belt around on the Colchian cemetery in 1976.The lekythos is wellpreserved.It is dated back to last quarter of 5 th century BC (Sikharulidze, 1992).
Besides red figure vases there are revealed black figure pottery as well.There is a scene of symposium on one lekythos.It was found in 2008.And, another one was found in 2010.It is a kylix ornamented with dynamic figure of a coachman onto a twohorse carriage between pelmets.
A bigger squat lekythos revealed on a Colchian cemetery in 1987 might belong to the Shuvalov's amphora Painter or his companions or followers.The lekythos is nearly fullrestored.There is lost a rather big hand fragment only.It has slopped shape.Its mouth is like a bowl.Its neck is outlined from its shoulders and crown.The body is boomed, and the bottom is thin and profiled.Its neck is decorated with a wide vertical ray belt.The twofigured composition is based onto a line composed with tongue and spot ornament.There is an image of young man wearing a long tunic and slipshodly sitting on an armchair klismos on the right side of the composition.He puts his half bare left hand on the bench back.And, he points his right hand to a female keeping a trunk and standing in front of him.Clothes of the both figures are made of dozens of vertical stripes.A slightly bowed knee of the figure standing on is made of a combination of slopped stripes.There is a drapery cloak slipped at the waist of the figure sitting on the klismos.The contours are made of relief lines.One can notice a foot of preliminary outline.Heads are separated with a clay line.
While determining the plot of the composition there was revealed few princi pal problems.One of them considered determining the sex of the figure sitting on the bench.Long curly hair falling on face and long tunic one can perceive it to be a expressive pupil of the eye and eyelash on the upper eyelid.We believe the author used this trick to differentiate the figures.Though the difference might be caused by master' pupil who was involved while making the composition.Similar curly long haired male is known among the works of Shuvalov Painter.Apollo is one of his beloved characters.While determining the period and the master great attention was made to the chair with the back klismos which is characteristic feature of later mannerists including the Shuvalov amphora Painter.The Pichvnari lekythos com position has great many thematic analogues.Here should be mentioned a red figure oinochoe with Aphrodite sitting on a klismos, Eros and Charis.The oinochoe belongs to the Shuvalov group and is kept at the Adolphseck Museum, Germany (Boardman, 1997. ill. 223).It is determined that the master uses 7 main types subdivided into 23 subtypes of expression.The male's figure on the Pichvnari lekythos belongs to 4D Group (the male sitting on klismos and looking leftward), and the female's figure belongs to 2A Group (the female with slightly bowed knees keeping the trunk and looking rightward) (LezziHafter, 1976. p.p. 6062).Some details of the composition, particularly the way of expressing female fig ure and the trunk, have analogues with the contemporary of Shuvalov Painter, Wash ing Painter's works.
The lekythos as mentioned above is a funeral feature thus its plot should have been associated with passing away and funeral ritual.Generally, attic vases belonged to funeral items expressed offering, decoration of herms with garlands, figures stand ing at the altar, games dedicated to funeral ritual, rallies, symposiums, and funeral trapeze.The lekythos composition is civil at first sight but it is wellknown that civil and sacral have much in common in ancient world.If we look at the plot from that point of view we can see a funeral religious scene of a master and his servant.The master could be any of Chthonic Gods associated with the dead, even Appolo the beloved character of the Shuvalov amphora Painter.
The basic ornament of the main composition of the lekythos attracts our in terest.The ornament has its analogue on small size hydriakalpis with Aphrodite sit ting on a klismos and Eros.The last was dated back to 435420 and considered to belong to the Shuvalov Painter's workshop.It was revealed on the grave No. 5 of the Pichvnari Greek cemetery in 1977.
The Shuvalov Painter, a brilliant representative of late period, was follower of miniature style and Polygnothos School.J. Bazli named him in honour of Duke I. Shu valov who had owned one of his best masterpieces, a small amphora with Apollo and Muse (kept at the Hermitage, Russia) among his collection.It should be noted that C Caucasus aucasus J Journal of ournal of S Social ocial S Sciences ciences 31 Apollo is one of the beloved characters of the painter.Nearly all works are made on small ceramic item.The master is not distinguished with diverse ornaments.Despite perfect compositions he is characterized with monotonous manner.One can often see a young man with long curly hair and big eyes having handsome profile among his works.The painter uses one and the same attribute.The Shuvalov painter researcher Adrian LezziHafter (1976) divides works into following groups of Early (440430 BC), Mid (430420 BC), and Late (420410 BC) periods.The Early period is characterized with Polygnotos School influence that is mainly expressed in prioritizing twofigured scenes.The Mid period is character ized with rapid development and flourishing of the workshop.And, the Late period is characterized with changing simple and easy style into rich and varied one.The Pichvnari lekytos could be dated back to 430420 BC.

Fig. 1
Fig. 1 But if you stare to the both figures you can notice that eyes and face contours of the figure keeping the trunk differs from another one.The first one has widely opened eyes which do not look very natural.Its low eyelid is longer, while upper one is shorter and without eyelash.The second one is characterized with typical vasepainting eyeshape being as close to the natural anatomic one, i.e.