Epoiesen, egrapsen, and the organization of the vase trade
The obverse scene of the krater Oxford 526 by the Komaris Painter (Plate VI c) was the subject of J.D. Beazley's first contribution to this journal, an exemplary account from which the relevant passage deserves to be quoted:The space on A is divided by a pillar. To the left of the pillar is the painter's room. A young man dressed in an exomis and seated on a stool is painting the background of a large bell-krater of the same shape as our vase. His left arm is inside the krater, the rim resting on his thigh, and he is applying a large brush to the lower part. At his side is a stand, supporting the skyphos-shaped vase which contains the black paint. In front of the painter a fellow-workman moves to the right carrying a second krater by both handles. He has lifted it from the ground beside the painter and is carrying it out to put it down beside a third krater which stands on the ground at the extreme right of the picture. Presently the batch will go to the furnace. Beyond the pillar is another workman who moves to the right in the same attitude as the last. In his raised right hand he holds a skyphos by the foot. Perhaps he is taking it to join a batch of vases of the same shape, but more probably he has been sent by the busy painter to fetch more paint … A pleasant rhythm is thus imparted to the scene; the first figure is occupied with both vase and paint; the second with vase; and the third with paint.