ATTRIBUTED TO THE SYRISKOS PAINTER, GROUP OF THE NEGRO ALABASTRA, CIRCA 490-480 B.C.

According to Neils ("The Group of the Negro Alabastra; A Study in Motif Transferal," Antike Kunst), the motif of the African warrior, based on the costumes employed, is derived from depictions of Amazons. And while there is a mythological source for African warriors in Athenian vase painting (Ethiopian archers at Troy in the company of Memnon), on the alabastra, Neils demonstrates (p. 23) "many motifs in Greek vase painting need not depend on some external impetus, but can more properly be explained through a careful examination of their context. Explanations of certain otherwise abstruse elements can be sought not necessarily in historical sources, literary accounts or foreign contacts, but rather in the collective repertoire of vase painting imagery. In this way it can be seen how a mythological subject can evolve into a purely decorative motif exploited for its popularity and exoticness rather than for any intrinsic meaning."
For another alabastron from this group with an African warrior similarly clad in a Thracian cloak and carrying a pelta shield with the same blazon, see the example in Palermo, no. 8 in Neils, op. cit.