Non-figured ornamental motifs on Attic black-figure vases from the collection of the Canada Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto: iconographic elements of Geometric tradition?

This short article aims to give an overview of the non-figured ornamental motifs which are present in the technique of Attic pottery production of black-figure vases belonging to the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada. These motifs are either stylized and geometric forms, with vegetable or floral themes; or composed of a combination of "pure" geometric shapes, i.e., vertical or horizontal bars and lines, in parallel or crossed. The majority of these decorative elements find their origin and development in the Greek Geometric Period (between 900-700 BC approximately). The purpose of this brief discussion is, on the one hand, to emphasize the iconographic elements of "permanence" or "continuity", which represent a certain "Geometric tradition", although these motifs are adapted to a new vase shape, a new technique of production and a new style, namely the black-figure pottery; and on the other hand, to discuss the "new" motifs, incorporated as standard compositions of decoration in this new style.