The first vessels, hand-made of course, began to be produced in Macedonia about 6000 BC and had simple shapes and linear decoration. As time passed and techniques progressed, new shapes were devised, more complex and with richer ornamentation.
The study of Macedonian vessels reveals that the art of pottery and its decoration was influenced throughout its course by neighboring regions and the important artistic centers of each period. Side by side with clearly local characteristics the influence of Thessaly and the East, but chiefly of Attica and Corinth, renowned centers for the production of high quality vessels, is discernable.
Attic kantharos
Akanthos, 480-470 BC
 |
|
The craft of these cities came to northern Greece through trade and was established there aided by the presence of the southern Greek colonies on the Macedonian coast. Attic and Corinthian vessels thus introduced are being unearthed in quantities in excavations of tombs and houses, while from the Classical period onward local workshops themselves produced imitations of these vessels.
In the Hellenistic period Macedonia followed the styles predominating in the rest of Greece. Of note is a group of 'skyphoi' (small cups) with relief decoration depicting scenes from the Homeric epics, considered to be the product of Macedonian workshops.
See Also
