Achilles and Ajax playing dice during the Trojan War, Vatican Museums. 540 – 530 a.C. Exekias, from Vulci
Bucchero is the black ceramic produced by the Etruscans. The name derives from the Spanish term bucaro, which designated a black ceramic of South American production imported in the 17th century, very similar to Etruscan ceramics. In bucchero both the dough and the surface are black, which is shiny and compact. The color is not obtained with paint but thanks to a particular firing process in the absence of oxygen, which prevents the chemical transformations of oxidation which give the typical orange color to the iron minerals contained in the clay. The appearance and shape of the bucchero vases are very similar to those of the more expensive metal vases, for which they were a substitute.
Maurizio Rome Guide 