The term Nikosthenic amphora describes a specific type of Attic

Attica

Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...

 vase. It was invented in the late 6th century BC by the potter Nikosthenes

Nikosthenes

Nikosthenes was a potter of Greek black- and red-figure pottery in the time window 545-510 B.C. He is thought to have been associated with the work of the painters Oltos, Lydos, Epiktetos and the Nikosthenes-Painter....

, aimed specifically for esport to Etruria

Etruria

Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...

.
The Nikosthenic amphora is inspired by Etruscan Bucchero

Bucchero

The term Bucchero Regarded as the "national" pottery of ancient Etruria, bucchero ware is distinguished by its black fabric as well as glossy, black surface achieved through the unique "reduction" method in which it was fired...

 types. It is the characteristic product of the Nikosthenes-Pamphaios workshop. Striking features are the angular body of the amphora and the broad flat handles. The Etruscan predecessors were black-painted, whereas the Attic vases were decorated in the black-figure style. Nearly all know examples were found in Caere

Caere

Caere is the Latin name given by the Romans to one of the larger cities of Southern Etruria, the modern Cerveteri, approximately 50-60 kilometres north-northwest of Rome. To the Etruscans it was known as Cisra and to the Greeks as Agylla...

, while the majority of Nikosthenes products in other shapes were discovered in Vulci. This suggests that the type was specifically made for sale in or to Caere, which indicates that Niokosthenes must have been a gifted salesmen and that an efficient system of intermediate traders must have existed. Noksothenes created or introduced several vase shapes, but the Nikosthenic amphora is his most famous innovation.
The clay of the Nikosthenic amphorae is bright orange-red, and thus provides a perfect base for black.figure vase painting. Their decoration follows quite varied patterns. Sometimes, they are subdivided in two or three separate friezes, mostly of plant and animal motifs. In other cases, images cover the whole vase body. Apparently most, perhaps even all, Nikosthenic amphorae were painted by Painter N

N Painter

Painter N was an Attic black-figure vase painter of the third quarter of the 6th century BC. His real name remains unknown.Painter N was named after the potter Nikosthenes, as he worked in the latter’s workshop and was his most important collaborator. He should not be confused with his...

, whi has been suggested to be identical with Nikosthenes. Production began around 530m to 520 BC and continued under Nikosthenes' successor Pamphaios

Pamphaios

Pamphaios was an Attic vase painter active around the end of the 6th century BC.Pampphaios was the successor of Nikosthenes in that artist's workshop, and thus took over from one of the most influential and creative potters of antiquity...

 – at that stage in the red-figure style – to cease between 500 and 490 BC.