Attic Black-Figure Neck Amphora

Two duels – or perhaps the same combat seen from different sides – adorn this small neck-amphora. There are no inscriptions that name the figures, but their one-on-one combat evokes the duels of heroes in the Trojan War. 

In the early decades of the fifth century B.C. many vase‑painters worked in the recently invented red‑figure technique. Others, however, continued to work in black‑figure. In the changing pottery market, some sought ways to make their product more interesting. One method was to cover the normal reddish color of the clay background with a creamy white slip, as seen here. This white slip created a sharper contrast between the figures and the background.