AN expert in the ancient history of vase decoration is to explain the skill at a public talk this week.

Dr Oliver Dickinson, a reader in classics and ancient history at Durham University, will speak on Greek vase painting in a free lecture at 7pm tomorrow, in Room 142, Elvet Riverside, opposite the Three Tuns in Durham city centre.

The lecture - called Why Study Greek Vase Painting? - coincides with the opening of a temporary exhibition, entitled The Potter's Story, being staged at the Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology in Durham.

Up to 80 beautiful examples of the ancient art, some more than 2,500 years old, will be on display at the exhibition, which runs until April 21.

The ornate vases, many of which depict scenes from Greek mythology, date from between 900BC to 300BC and several are on loan from the Kent Collection, at Harrogate Museum.

Dr Dickinson said: "The best vase-painters were creative artists, concerned with problems of painting, even if the vases they produced were not expensive works of art and their contemporaries did not give them the same recognition that is afforded to artists nowadays."

Published: 08/03/2005