Coral-red

A vase painting style and technique involving coral-red paint that was used for some Attic vases of the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. A number of well-known vase painters such as Onesimos and Psiax experimented with the technique. Coral-red was made by adding yellow ocher to the black gloss, making the gloss porous and thus deep orange-red in color after the reoxidizing phase of firing. The coral-red technique was most typically found on stemless cups and phialai dating from after the Persian Wars, on which the red body contrasts strikingly with the black lip and handles. They may have been made in Athens under the influence of Persian metalwork and it is possible that the color was intended to evoke gold. Since the coral-red gloss did not adhere well to the vase's surface, it was never a widespread technique and it was eventually abandoned.