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Bilingual pottery (or, in the singular, a bilingual vase) is a term used to denote pottery from amongst the earliest Attic vases which present on one side the earlier black figure style and on the other the later red figure style, sometimes showing with the same scene. They show a time of style-change, and may have been due to the uncertainty of the market for the new, red-figure style. These works were only produced for a short time due to the popularity of the red-figure technique. Example of bilingual vases are known to have been produced by the Andokides Painter, the Lysippides Painter, Oltos and Psiax.

The phenonmenon is not limited to vases - the painter Epiktetos produced bilingual cups, the Andokides Painter bilingual amphoras.

[edit] Gallery

Bilingual amphora: Black figure side image of Heracles showing, black figured, Andokides Painter, Staatliche Antikensammlung of Munich

Bilingual amphora: Heracles, red figured, Andokides Painter, 520 B.C.

[edit] Other examples

• Andocides painter 530 BC. Black figure side of "Bilingual" vase: Athena and Herakles.

• Lysippides painter 530 BC. Black figure side of "Bilingual" vase: Herakles & sacrificial bull.