The Etruscan Secret of Black Pottery

The ancient Etruscans created a distinctive style of pottery that looks like polished black metal. They achieved this deep, glossy charcoal color by starving their kilns of oxygen during the firing process.

Known as Bucchero, this ceramic style dominated central Italy long before the Roman Empire rose to power. To get the unique color, artisans fired the clay in a smoke-filled environment that turned the iron oxide in the material black. It was so highly prized that it was often used as a status symbol in aristocratic tombs. Interestingly, the name itself comes from a word originally used for simple drinking vessels.