Usil, the Etruscan god of the sun

Usil, the Etruscan god of the sun, is equated with the Greek and Roman Helios/Sol Invictus. Appliques depicting the god usually depict the deity with spread wings and a nimbus of rays surrounding his head which is also adorned with a diadem.  On such a plaque obtained by the J. Paul Getty Museum, the figure merges into a broad plate decorated with undulating lines, suggesting the sea from which the sun emerges at daybreak and sinks at dusk.

 "Ornamental reliefs such as this functioned as fittings on funeral carts and chariots, which often accompanied the burials of Etruria’s equestrian elite. Probably affixed to the sides of the vehicle, the winged god reflects the imagery of a celestial divinity driving the chariot of the sun across the sky, which was common in Greek and later Etruscan art. The earliest Usil plaque, in the Vatican Museums, was reportedly found at Roma Vecchia between 1760 and 1775 and was illustrated by Francesco Piranesi in 1778. In 1845, four similar plaques were discovered in the Tomb of the Quadriga at Vulci, which preserved the skeletons of horses. Among the appliqués held in the National Etruscan Museum of the Villa Giulia in Rome, the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, and other museums, some may belong to that burial. Although displaying slight variations in size, facial features, form of the plate, and position of the rivets, all are associated with a preeminent bronze-casting workshop in Vulci." - J. Paul Getty Museum 

Other depictions of the Etruscan god feature Usil rising out of the sea, with a fireball in either outstretched hand, on an engraved Etruscan bronze mirror in late Archaic style and with a halo on Classical style Etruscan mirrors.

While Usil is depicted most often as male, there are also feminine depictions equating Usil with another indigenous Etruscan goddess, Catha, which is often interpreted as having a solar character. Usil is also shown in close association with Thesan, the dawn goddess, something almost never seen with Helios and Eos.

Appliqué depicting the Sun God Usil, Etruscan, 500 - 475 BCE, made in Vulci, Italy, Bronze, courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Pacific Palisades, California

A low relief bronze mirror crafted using the wax method said to depict the winged Greek goddess Eos (Aurora) running or in flight with Kephalos, a young hunter hero that is the son of Hermes and Herse in her arms. However, as this mirror is from the Etruscan workshop in Vulci crafted between 480- 470 BCE, it may equate the winged figure to the Etruscan goddess Thesan or Usil in a female aspect. Now in the collections of the Vatican Museums.

Etruscan mirror from Orvieto depicting the Etruscan sun god Usil fising from the waves, juggling balls of fire, circa 500 BCE now in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts courtesy of the museum.

Outline of Etruscan mirror from Orvieto depicting the Etruscan sun god Usil fising from the waves, juggling balls of fire, circa 500 BCE now in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Nancy T. de Grummond

Outline of an engraved bronze mirror from Tuscania. From left to right, Nethuns, Usil, Thesan. In the lower exergue a winged anguiped demon who holds up a dolphin in each hand. Now in the collections of the Vatican Museums' Museo Gregoriano Etrusco in Vatican City courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Nancy T. de Grummond

 

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Etruscan Bucchero Ware

Bucchero ware, distinguished by its glossy black surface, was produced by the Etruscans in central Italy between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE. The first appearance of a ceramic type that can clearly be classified as bucchero occurred around 675 BCE at the coastal community of Caere (the modern-day Cerveteri), with somewhat later centers of production to be found at Veii and Tarquinia, both cities, like Caere, located in the southern part of the Etruscan heartland. Although the shapes of Villanovan pots provided the basics for the Etruscan potters, they added new types and forms largely inspired through intensified trade with the more advanced cultures at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, in particular the areas of Cyprus, Syria, and Phoenicia, as well as Egypt. Many of the new, exotic shapes were in imitation of the metalwares imported from these cultures. The potters of Etruria were able to offer their customers a locally produced and less-expensive ceramic equivalent to the desirable but costly metal products arriving from the east. Some of the Etruscan potshops even carried metalware imitation to the point of covering the surface of bucchero vessels with thin sheets of silver in an attempt to visually duplicate the luxurious imports. 

Bucchero ware was fired using the reduction method in which the vent holes of the kiln were closed to reduce the oxygen during firing.  In the smoke-filled atmosphere of the kiln, the oxygen-starved flames drew oxygen molecules from the iron oxide of the pottery. This process caused the fabric of the clay to change color from its natural red to black. Thus, in contrast to the black-glazed Campanian ware of the Greek colonists in southern Italy, the lustrous, shiny, black surface of many bucchero pots was achieved by diligent burnishing (polishing) or, occasionally, through the application of a thin slip (clay emulsion).  

Strangely, bucchero ware appeared to develop in reverse from a high level of refinement, known as sottile, from 675-626 BCE, to more Hellenized vessels between 625-575 BCE, and finally to objects referred to as "heavy" bucchero between 575-480 BCE.

As Rome began to nibble away at the territories of southern Etruria, centers for producing bucchero shifted northwards to the cities of Chiusi and Vulci. There, during the Classical period, potters put their stamp upon the bucchero tradition by introducing a new variety of the ceramic known as bucchero pesante, or heavy bucchero. In this final phase in the history of bucchero pottery, vessel walls become thicker and proportions squatter. The decoration of bucchero pesante ware typically consisted of mold-formed figures applied to the still-damp surface of the pot. By the beginning of the fifth century B.C.E., in part due to the growing availability of the elegant pottery of Greece, the demand for native bucchero ware was in a steep decline. Bucchero no longer was exported and, at home, consumers preferred the colorful pottery of the Greek artisans with their narrative and figurative panels so Etruscan potters devoted their attention instead to the production of provincial imitations of Greek red-figure vases.

In the 18th and 19th century in Europe a particular type Pre-Columbian pottery in a black color became popular among collectors. At the same time, in Italy, 'etruscheria' (Etruscan-style artefacts) was in high demand, too, and major digs were organized in Tuscany and Umbria in the quest for Etruscan antiquities. Because of the similarities with the popular South American ceramics, many excavated by the Portugese, the striking black pottery that was found in Etruscan tombs was called 'bucchero' derived from the Portuguese word búcaro, meaning "odorous clay", because this type of pottery was reputed to emit a special odor. 

Read more about it in Mark Cartwright's excellent article:

https://www.ancient.eu/Bucchero/

See even more examples at:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Bucchero

Etruscan cup in the form of a pig at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kyathos in bucchero with man among lions, from tomb 1 of the mound of S. Paul, 670-650 BCE now National Etruscan Museum in the Villa Giulia in Rome courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko

Etruscan oinochoe with molded decoration, 550-500 BCE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko

Foculum (Serving Tray) with Jars and Implements Etruscan from Chiusi A Tomb Group 550-500 BCE at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

Focolare, also known as a Foculum (serving tray) from Chiusi, Etruscan, 6th century BCE that I photographed at the Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Fragmentary figured bucchero amphora with stylized chariot, from Calabresi tomb, Cerveteri, 650-600 BCE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko

Vessel with human figure on the handle, 610-590 BCE, at the Museo Archeologico, Florence courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko

Focolare, Etruscan, 580-510 BCE at Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Florence) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko

Pesante bucchero hydria with molded decorations 6th century BCE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko

Etruscan bucchero ware with bovine protomes at the Gregorian Etruscan Museum in Vatican City courtesy of Jérémy-Günther-Heinz Jähnick.

Bucchero rhyton from the Necropolis of Cucifisso del Tufo at the NAM Orvieto 6th century BCE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Wolfgang Sauber

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