Exciting and provocative in its argument, this book challenges the widely held view that Greek pottery vases were objects of great value in antiquity, commissioned by rich patrons from the greatest artists of the day. Instead, they are shown to have been simply low cost versions of tableware originally made in silver and gold. This book demonstrates how Greek pottery first came to be regarded as a high value commodity in the eighteenth century thanks to clever, if not fraudulent, sales techniques; it examines the primary sources, both literary and epigraphic, to find what materials the ancients did consider to be important; and it explores the ways in which work in gold and silver influenced painted pottery.