Among the artists who have signed Attic black-figured vases perhaps the most singular and interesting personality is the potter and painter Amasis. He is interesting both as one of the masters of that delicate decorative work, which gives b.f. vases their artistic value, and through the curious contradictions which can be traced in his style. Only seven vases bearing his signature are known up till now, yet each shows characteristic peculiarities of shape, decoration, or style, which one would seek for in vain among the mass of contemporary Attic pottery.
No artist has surpassed Amasis in easy mastery and accuracy of drawing, or in the painstaking, delicate treatment of detail; yet his figures are often rigid and affected, his choice of subjects monotonous and limited. The technique and style of his vases, the alphabet and dialect of their inscriptions prove that he worked in Athens; yet both his numerous peculiarities of style and his name seem to denote a foreign origin.
It is but natural that so peculiar and interesting an artist should have excited curiosity to trace his origin and influence, and the wish to enrich the scanty stock of his work which we possess, by unsigned vases that may be attributed to him.