The Northampton Group was a stylistic group 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...

 amphorae in the black-figure style.

With the exception of a single belly amphora, the vases of the Northampton Group are exclusively neck amphorae. Stylistically, they are very close to North Ionian vase painting. However, they were probably not produced in Ionia

Ionia

Ionia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...

, but in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (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...

). They date to about 540 BC. The vases by the Northampton Group are products of very high quality. They feature rich ornamental decoration and sometimes very interesting imagery, such as a mounted prince and men mounted on cranes

Crane (bird)

Cranes are a family, Gruidae, of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the order Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back...

. They are stylistically closely related to the Campana dinoi. The clay of Northampton Group vases is similar to that of Caeretan hydria

Caeretan hydria

A Caeretan hydria is a type of ancient Greek painted vase, belonging to the black-figure style.Caeretan hydriai are a particularly colourful type of Greek vase painting. Their geographic origin is disputed by scholars, but in recent years the view that they were produced by two potter-painters who...

i and shows no indication of an East Mediterranean origin.

The Group's name is derived from the Northampton Amphora, one of the most famous pieces in the collection of Spencer Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton

Spencer Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton

Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton , known as Lord Compton from 1796 to 1812 and as Earl Compton from 1812 to 1828, was a British nobleman and patron of science and the arts....

, who was president of the Royal Society

Royal Society

The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...

 from 1838 to 1848. From 1820 to 1830 he had lived in Italy, were he acquired most of his collection of over 160 ancient vases, including 52 black-figure amphorae. Roughly at the same time, excavations began at the necropolis of Vulci, from where to amphorae of the group entered the Staatliche Antikensammlungen

Staatliche Antikensammlungen

The Staatliche Antikensammlungen in the Kunstareal of Munich is a museum for the Bavarian state's antique collections for Greek, Etruscan and Roman art. The Bavarian state collection of Ancient Egyptian art is traditionally placed in its own museum...

 at Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

. Although Lord Northampton supported the excavations financially, it is not known whether the Northampton Amphora itself is from that site. Eduard Gerhard was the first archaeologist to describe some of the vases in Northampton's collection, while on a visit to Rome. After the Lord's return to England, the vases were placed in his residence at Castle Ashby

Castle Ashby

Castle Ashby is the name of a civil parish, an estate village and an English country house in rural Northamptonshire. Historically the village was set up to service the needs of Castle Ashby Manor, the seat of the Marquess of Northampton. The village has one small pub-hotel, The Falcon. At the time...

. By the beginning of the 20th century, they were displayed publicly. In 1980, his descendants auctioned the collection off at Christie's

Christie's

Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...

. At the time, the Nortahmpton Amphora was sold for 415,360 US Dollars.

Literature

• Thomas Mannack: Griechische Vasenmalerei. Eine Einführung. Theiss, Stuttgart 2002, p. 132. ISBN 3-8062-1743-2.
• Matthias Steinhart: Schwarzfigurige Vasenmalerei II. Ausserattisch, In: Der Neue Pauly, vol 11, cols 276-281.