- Richard Daniel De Puma –
beginnings of true bucchero sottile at circa 675 bc, the earliest bucchero pesante appears about
a century later, circa 575 bc, but continues to be produced into the early fi fth century
bc. Some scholars have seen an intermediate form of bucchero evolving from sottile to
pesante in the late seventh century bc. This bucchero transizionale is less prestigious and
more utilitarian. In the Etruscan Hellenistic period bucchero is largely replaced by a fi ne
black-gloss pottery called Malacena Ware.
INDIGENOUS SHAPES OF BUCCHERO SOTTILESeveral pottery shapes that are popular in bucchero are indigenous to Italy. Perhaps the
most important is the spiral amphora (Fig. 53.2), so-called because many are decorated
with an incised spiral design on each side of the belly. This distinctive shape has a small,
low foot, a bulbous belly, often with incised ornament, and wide ribbon-like handles that
spring from the shoulder and join the rim of the fl aring mouth. This shape appears very
metallic and, in fact, a fi ne silver version with gold handles was found in the Regolini-
Galassi Tomb at Caere, circa 675–650 bc.^17 This range of dates also applies to the earliest
appearances of the spiral amphora in bucchero. The latest examples come from the end of
the seventh century bc.
Three types of decoration appear frequently on spiral amphoras: incision (often in the
form of double spirals, placed horizontally on the belly and usually framed by W-shaped
designs below the handles); rouletting^18 (usually impressed “fan” motifs set vertically on
the neck); ribbing (parallel striations set vertically on the belly). On some examples a
small bird, fi sh or horse is incised above the spiral design but, in general, it is rare to fi nd
fi gural ornament on this shape. Several examples show incised or roulette decoration on
the outer surfaces of the wide ribbon handles.
This important shape had its beginnings in hand-built impasto versions that
eventually led to more refi ned examples that were thrown on the potter’s wheel. (Some
buccheroid examples as well as almost all bucchero spiral amphoras are wheel-made.) As
time progresses, the shape generally becomes less squat, the foot becomes taller and more
Figure 53.2 Bucchero sottile spiral amphora from Tarquinia, Monterozzi Necropolis, Cultrera tomb 25,
circa 625–600 bc. Drawing from Rasmussen 1979, p. 163, Fig. 2.