Choose the vase you want to analyze. If you are in a museum, and want to learn more about a particular vase, take a photo if you are allowed, or make a detailed sketch if you are not. Include approximate measurements, colors, a description of each scene and any writing on the vase. If you are working from a photograph, try to find out how large the vase is, and whether any other photographs of it are available, so that you can see the scenes on the other side and any lettering around its base or neck.
Identify the type of vase by shape. This will tell you its purpose. For instance, a krater (large and deep, with a wide mouth and a flat foot) was used for mixing wine and water together, while a kylix (a small, flat bowl with a narrow pedestal) was used for drinking.
Identify the painting technique. During the Protogeometric and Geometric periods (1050-700 BCE), meanders, zig-zag patterns and stylized figural scenes such as funerary processions covered vases in bands. In the Orientalizing period (700-600 BCE), the style changed to include representations of flowers and animals, and the representation of humans was more naturalistic. The black-figure technique, in which figures were painted with a slip that turned black in the kiln, was invented circa 720 BCE; red-figure technique came later, around 525 BCE. White ground appeared in the fifth century, and in the fourth century painters used more colors and gilding.
Use the painting technique to give a tentative date and location for the vase. Additional information on the vase, such as the painter's name, can narrow this date down significantly.
Study the scenes and designs on the vase. Use your knowledge of Greek history, mythology, and culture to identify characters and interpret their actions.