Attic clay is rich sedentary clay that is characteristically an orange-red color and has plastic properties, making it ideal for pottery. Once the attic clay is dug up it is purified by levigation with large amounts of water and left to settle. At this time stones and other heavy materials will settle at the bottom.
Once the clay is purified and aged the potter throws the pot. In this process the potter shapes the clay as an assistant turns the potter’s wheel. Once the shape is formed the piece is trimmed and uneven clay is removed. At this point the potter added the handle and left the vase to dry. When the vase became leather-hard it would be burnished. This process involved rubbing a hard, smooth piece of leather or wood vigorously across the surface. This would compact and smooth the surface, making it shiny and more durable.
After burnishing the Painter would have sketched the design onto the clay. Then a slip was added to create the black and white gloss that acts as the background on the vase. The clay was left bare where the images were intended to go, the white areas would have been the exception to this, as the whole area would need to be covered to create the white band. The slip was then burnished. The potter painted over his sketch to outline the red-figures with the same material used to create the gloss. In areas where the Painter would have wanted a brown or lighter shade the gloss applied would have been watered down. Once the design was complete the vase was placed in a kiln. The vase then underwent a three-part firing process. In phase one the kiln reaches approximately 800°C in a highly oxidized atmosphere. Phase two, or the reducing phase, involves closing the air vent and raising the temperature to approximately 950°C. In the final phase the kiln is cooled to 900°C and oxygen is allowed in for oxidizing. The vase is then removed from the kiln, ready for use.
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