The Red and the Black covers the major stages in the history of Greek pottery production, both figured and plain, as they are understood today. It provides an up-to-date evaluation of ways of studying Greek pottery and encourages new approaches.
There is a detailed analysis of the subject matter of figured scenes covering some of the main preoccupations of ancient Greece: myth, fantasy and everyday life. Furthermore, it sets the artefacts in the context of the societies that produced them, highlighting the social, art historical, mythological and economic information that can be revealed from their study.
This volume also covers a hitherto neglected area: the history of the collecting of Greek pottery through the Renaissance and up to the present day. It shows how market values have gradually increased to the high prices of today and goes on to take a closer look at the enthusiasm of the collectors.
Biography
Brian A Sparkes received his training in classics and archaeology at King's College London and at the British School of Archaeology in Athens. He is currently Professor of Classical Archaeology at Southampton University. His most recent publications are Greek Art and Greek Pottery: An Introduction
'Finally a readable introduction to greek ? and price reasonable for ?' - L Palmquist, Stockholm University, Sweden
'Professor Sparkes takes a refreshing, innovative, and often entertaining view of the subject ... this book is alive with ideas, new thoughts, interesting parallels ... Professor Sparkes's book is a 'must' for anyone interested in Greek pots, be they scholar, collector, amateur or simply interested layman. It opens new doors and lets refreshing gusts in through opened windows.' - Minerva
