Chalcidian pottery

The style's name is derived from the occasional presence of mythological inscriptions on the vases, which are executed in the Chalcidian alphabet.

Andreas Rumpf and Adolf Kirchhoff, who coined the term, as well as other archaeologists initially assumed the pottery to originate from Euboea.

An argument against a South Italian origin is the fact that some vases bear trade marks not otherwise used in that part of Magna Graecia.

The possibility of an Etrurian origin is contradicted by the fact that Etruscan pottery was not usually exported to the South of Italy.

The vases were found mainly in Italian sites such as Caere, Vulci and Rhegion, but also in Empúries (Spain), İzmir, Marseille.

Their painters made generous use of red and white paints, as well as incision for internal detail.

A typical feature is the Chalcidian cup foot, sometimes imitated in Attic black-figure and (rarely) red-figure vases.