From the people to the people: Production strategies and consumer preferences in late archaic and early classical Athenian vase painting.

In the late 6th century BC, the Athenian pottery industry saw a period of experimentation that led to the invention of the red-figure technique. The vases decorated with this method gradually overtook those decorated in the more archaic way. Workshops that continued using the black-figure technique found themselves at a crossroads: they either tried to compete with red-figure vases or switched to a more sustainable production method. After around 510 BC, most black-figure vases were hastily made, mass-produced pieces, which, regardless of their artistic quality, were popular among both the local and foreign clientele. In our paper, we focus on the Athenian black-figure pottery made in the late archaic and early classical periods between ca. 520 – 450 BC. In the first part of the paper, we discuss two pottery workshops excavated in Athens, using them as case studies. Based on these workshops and the attributed vases found in them, we argue that the producers of blackfigure vases strove for self-distinction through the conscious use of recurring visual motifs. In the second part of the paper, the impact of the possible marketing strategies is evaluated using the material found in the Kerameikos necropolis. Relying on the published material and the method of Social Network Analysis, we demonstrate that the workshops could successfully influence the choices of the Athenian customers.