black gloss en

Shiny black coating that is well-known on Athenian pottery. It is created by painting with a black slip mixture before a three-stage firing process. Oxygen is removed from the kiln in the first stage and the lack of oxygen and high temperature causes the clay to turn black while the slip mixture melts into black gloss. Oxygen is then re-introduced, causing the un-coated surface to turn red-orange. The black gloss is unaffected at this stage, and the coated area remains black.