Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 4

This illustrated catalogue publishes the important collection of Greek Geometric and Orientalizing pottery in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. More than 200 vases and fragments are described and illustrated in detailed photographs and profile drawings.There is abundant illustration of the geometric forms of ornament from which the period takes its name, including fine examples of meticulous brushwork. The figured pieces include many elements of standard Late Geometric repertoire - male and female mourners at a bier; files of warriors with shield, helmet, and spear; processing two-horse chariots with their drivers; horses, deer, hounds, a fox, and birds of different types.The introduction gives a history of the collection and discusses the changing attitudes to pottery from the 'Greek Dark Ages'.