Black-glazed ware is a type of ancient Greek

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 fine pottery. The modern term describes vessels covered with a shiny black slip.

Black-glazed pottery was produced especially in the Classical

Classical period

Classical period can refer to the following:*The Classical Period of ancient Greece, which fell between its Archaic Period and Hellenistic Period.*Classical antiquity*Classical period of music*Classic stage of American archaeology...

 and Hellenistic periods. During reduced firing, sintering

Sintering

Sintering is a method used to create objects from powders. It is based on atomic diffusion. Diffusion occurs in any material above absolute zero, but it occurs much faster at higher temperatures. In most sintering processes, the powdered material is held in a mold and then heated to a temperature...

 of the iron-rich clay led to a shiny black surface. Such pottery was produced both on the potter's wheel

Potter's wheel

In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in asma of round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during process of trimming the excess body from dried ware and for applying incised decoration or rings of color...

 or impressed in pre-shaped matrixes. The glaze was added on with a paintbrush on the wheel, or by dipping. In some cases, black.glazed ware was additionally decorated with white, red or gold paint. Plastic decoration, either applied by stamp, or as applied reliefs, also occurred. Within about a hundred years, during the 5th century BC, black-glazed wares replaced the previously popular red-figure pottery from the Mediterranean markets. Since the Hellenistic periods, non-Greek workshops also produced it, usually just serving local or regional markets.
In recent years, the importance of the type in modern research has increased considerably, especially in the contexts of culinary habits, regional contacts and trade links.