By the 6th and 5th centuries BC Athens, the main city of Attica, was the leading producer of pottery. Athenian potters created a huge variety of shapes, from practical vessels like wine containers (amphorae) to delicate table ware, cups and bowls. Attic vases were exported all over the Mediterranean.

The most striking feature of Greek painted pottery was its use of the human form as the main decorative motif. Illustrations evolved from small groups of figures into elaborate stories. Both potters and painters signed their work, so dynasties of craftsmen and their individual styles can be identified.

The two main painting techniques were called ‘black-figure’ and ‘red-figure’. With the former, the design was painted in black outline against a red clay background. Details were incised (scratched on) and areas in white (for flesh or hair) and a purplish-red were added. In about 530-520 BC, black-figure began to be replaced by the red-figure technique. The figures were left, or reserved, in the red clay so that they stood out against a black, glazed background. This allowed the illustrator to paint in details much more freely and so create more three-dimensional figures.