Attic Black-Figure Nikosthenic Amphora with Boxers

On the neck of this black-figure Nikosthenic amphora, two boxers face each other with a tripod between them, presumably the prize in their contest. Lower on the vase, a youth sits between a pair of large eyes, grabbing the eyebrows. Eyes were a popular decoration on Athenian vases, especially from around 530 to 510 B.C., and this is a playful variant on that tradition. The youth seemingly speaks the Greek words inscribed in front of him: “Nikosthenes made [it].” This potter – or perhaps workshop owner - decorated some of the vases he produced, but over the course of his career, Nikosthenes worked with at least 33 other painters.

Nikosthenic amphorae have a distinctive shape: a tall, narrow body divided by ridges and wide, flat handles. They were made in only one workshop in Athens, that of Nikosthenes. Their shape copies a form of bucchero or impasto amphora traditionally made by Etruscan potters. In fact, almost all the surviving Nikosthenic amphorae come from one city in Etruria, Cerveteri. The specialized shape was likely produced in Athens for export to that market. The scenes of athletic events and revelry, which often decorate this shape, resemble imagery found in contemporary Etruscan tomb painting and presumably relate to Etruscan funerary ritual.