Rare Etruscan Bucchero Ware Fluted Chalice

Northern Italy, Etruscan, likely Vulci, ca. 6th century BCE. A stunning fluted chalice of a remarkably unique form, masterfully hand-built from pottery boasting a lustrous black surface - a distinguished characteristic of ancient bucchero ware! Sitting upon a tiered, pedestal foot, the unique vessel presents a conical leg and a rounded bottom that leads to a carinated edge, flared, fluted walls, and a broad, wavy rim. A projecting double band further adorns the leg, perhaps serving to enhance one's grip of the vessel. Size: 5.6" Diameter x 5.8" H (14.2 cm x 14.7 cm)

Etruscan bucchero ware, produced between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE in central Italy, is characterized by its smooth clay and dark grey or black shiny, polished surface. This effect was achieved through the unique "reduction" method in which it was fired. After the unfired ware was placed in the kiln and the fire was started, the vent holes would be closed in order to limit the supply of oxygen and allow the oxygen-starved flames in the smoke-filled atmosphere to draw oxygen molecules from the iron oxide of the pottery, thus changing naturally red clay to black. The lustrous finish was then attained via diligent burnishing and sometimes through the application of a thin layer of slip. Objects in this style have been found in tombs around modern Tuscany and northern Lazio, and as exported wares as far afield as North Africa and Spain.

This type of chalice seems to have been inspired by Assyrian chalices imported from the Near East a century earlier. This chalice almost certainly came from a funerary context, placed in an opulent Etruscan tomb as an offering. However, it was probably placed there because similar - or maybe even the same - vessels were used in life by the people of Etruria; items placed in the tomb were meant to be a link between the world of the living and the dead, and to help furnish a symbolic domestic space for the deceased. Therefore, it seems likely that chalices like this one were also used in everyday life for drinking wine or other beverages.

Cf. British Museum, 1814,0704.465, J. Paul Getty Museum, 83.AE.403, Harvard Art Museum, 2004.208, and Metropolitan Museum of Art, 96.9.78.

Provenance: private San Francisco, California, USA collection, acquired 1970s to 2000s

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#170528
Condition Report: Repaired from several pieces with restoration and repainting over break lines. Restoration and repainting to rim. Chips with minor loss to foot, interior of leg, and rim. Nicks, scratches, and abrasions in some areas, commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with beautiful pigment.