Fine ware that was widely produced in the Mediterranean region from the 4th to the 1st centuries BCE. It is distinguished by being wholly or in part covered with a black slip or gloss, which is not actually a glaze (although it is sometimes called "black-glaze ware"). This ware developed from later Attic production, but by the Hellenistic period (about 330-30 BCE), it had become the most popular fine ware throughout the Mediterranean. It was the first pottery to be exported in quantity from southern Italy by the 3rd century BCE.
