The term Class of Cabinet des Médailles 218, or Class of Cab. Méd. 218 or Class of C.M. 218 described both a group of Attic

Attica

Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...

 black-figure vase painters, and a type of vase they produced. They belong to the final third of the sixth century BC.

The class painted variants of the Nikosthenic amphora

Nikosthenic amphora

The term Nikosthenic amphora describes a specific type of Attic vase. It was invented in the late 6th century BC by the potter Nikosthenes, aimed specifically for esport to Etruria....

. The vases' profile is more flowing and less angular than the more common shapes, making them more Greek in character. Two of the vases were produced by the potter Pamphaios

Pamphaios

Pamphaios was an Attic vase painter active around the end of the 6th century BC.Pampphaios was the successor of Nikosthenes in that artist's workshop, and thus took over from one of the most influential and creative potters of antiquity...

 and painted by Oltos

Oltos

Oltos was a Late Archaic Greek vase painter, active in Athens. From the time between 525 BC and 500 BC, about 150 works by him are known. Two pieces, a cup in Berlin and a cup in Tarquinia , are signed by him as painter.Oltos is thought to have begun his career in the workshop of the potter...

. Like all Nikosthenic amphorae, works of the Class of Cabinet des Médailles 218 were found exclusively at Caere

Caere

Caere is the Latin name given by the Romans to one of the larger cities of Southern Etruria, the modern Cerveteri, approximately 50-60 kilometres north-northwest of Rome. To the Etruscans it was known as Cisra and to the Greeks as Agylla...

. This indicates that following the tradition of Nikosthenes

Nikosthenes

Nikosthenes was a potter of Greek black- and red-figure pottery in the time window 545-510 B.C. He is thought to have been associated with the work of the painters Oltos, Lydos, Epiktetos and the Nikosthenes-Painter....

, they produced exclusively for export to Etruria

Etruria

Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...

. The group's conventional name is derived from its name vase

Name vase

In classical archaeology, a name vase is a specific "vase" whose painter's name is unknown but whose workshop style has been identified. The painter is conventionally named after the selected "name vase" that embodies his characteristic style, or for one of its distinctive painted subjects, or for...

, inventory 218 at the Cabinet des Médailles

Cabinet des Médailles

The Cabinet des Médailles, more formally known as Département des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiques de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, is a department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, France, housed in its former premises in Rue de Richelieu.The Cabinet des Médailles is a museum...

 of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France

Bibliothèque nationale de France

The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.