back to overview
 
1,901 photos
Bowl with basket-like handles and female heads on the rim, Greek, ca.600 BCE. The message scratched into the rim records its dedication to Aphrodite by a man named Sostratos. The bowl was found in the Sanctuary of Aphrodite at Naukratis, a Greek trading settlement in the Nile Delta, where the Greeks were free to worship their own gods. Gr 1888.6-1.456
#03050322

Bowl with basket-like handles and female heads on the rim, Greek, ca.600 BCE. Th...

Terracotta model of people at a basin, Cyprus, Middle Bronze Age, 2000-1600 MCE.
#03050326

Terracotta model of people at a basin, Cyprus, Middle Bronze Age, 2000-1600 MCE.

Pottery bowl decorated with a procession of riders in chariots, Mycenean, 1400-1300 BCE. From Maroni,Cyprus. This vase is a fine example of Mycenean pictorial Style pottery. Such vases were popular exports from Mycenean Greece to Cyprus, where many of them have been found. GR, 1911.4-28.1
#03050327

Pottery bowl decorated with a procession of riders in chariots, Mycenean, 1400-1...

Vase decorated with bulls and birds, Mycenean, from tomb 83, Enkomi,Cyprus, 1300-1200 BCE. It shows a cattle-egret removing a tick from the hide of a bull. The reverse side shows a bull with a bird inthe air abive it. This vase is a fine example of Mycenean pottery;large numbers of Mycenean Pictorial Style vases were made on the Greek mainland and exported to Cyprus, where this one was found. GR 1897.4-1.1150
#03050328

Vase decorated with bulls and birds, Mycenean, from tomb 83, Enkomi,Cyprus, 1300...

Bowl with a Gorgon's head surrounded by prowling animals, from Kamiros, Rhodes, made in Corinth. A frieze of panthers, deer, two sphinxes and a siren surround the staring face of the Gorgo Medusa. According to Greek legend, anyone who looked at the face of the Gorgo was instantly turned to stone. It seems likely, that such vessels also fulfilled an apotropaic function, warding off the evil eye from the user of the vessel. GR, 1861.4-25.46
#03050330

Bowl with a Gorgon's head surrounded by prowling animals, from Kamiros, Rhodes,...

Red fiured bel-krater (wine bowl), from Santa Agata dei Goti, Campania, Italy, made in Paestum. Alkmene's narrow escape from death is depicted in this scene. Torches are put to a pile of logs in front of the altar, where Alkmene waves frantically upwards towards Zeus. Clouds drench the flames and the rainbow over Alkmene signals a happy end. From the workshop of Python in Paestum. GR, 1890.2-10.1
#03050338

Red fiured bel-krater (wine bowl), from Santa Agata dei Goti, Campania, Italy, m...

Pottery askos (perfume flask) in the form of a lion,340-300 BCE. Probably made in Chiusi in northern Etruria, where animal-shaped perfume containers were popular in the 4th century BCE. This type of ornate container was mainly produced at Chiusi (the Clusium-Group of pottery). GR, 1873.8-20.269
#03050339

Pottery askos (perfume flask) in the form of a lion,340-300 BCE. Probably made i...

Faience flask, Egyptian, found at Vulci, ancient Etruria (now in Lazio, Italy), c625-c550 BC. This flask has a decorated rim and neck and a pair of antelope-head handles. There are hieroglyphic inscriptions on the shoulders, expressing New Year greetings to the owner. This is one of a pair of vessels found in the Isis tomb of the Polledrara Cemetery at Vulci. This rich tomb was opened in 1839 by Lucien Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon. After the contents were removed, the tomb was filled in and is now lost. It became known as the Isis Tomb after a statue found there that was thought to represent the Egyptian goddess Isis. The Egyptian New Year began in late summer when the River Nile began its annual flood. The transition from one year to the other was considered potentially very dangerous and many rituals were performed to propitiate the associated deities. Vessels such as this formed part of these rituals. GR, 1850.2-27.57
#03050353

Faience flask, Egyptian, found at Vulci, ancient Etruria (now in Lazio, Italy),...

Clay ground 'Hadra' hydria (water-jar), Greek, probably from Egypt, c200 BC. This vase is decorated in the black-figure technique, with a bull's head flanked by swans in a panel between the handles. The plunging dolphins on the shoulder are a popular Hellenistic motif. The Greek word Dorotheou, 'of Dorotheos', incised above the bull's head, is the name of the person whose ashes this vase originally contained. 'Hadra' hydriai are named after the Alexandrian cemetery of Hadra where large numbers of them have been excavated. Some were made locally, but analysis of the clay has demonstrated that many, including this example, were imported from Crete. Their principal use appears to have been as ash-urns to contain the remains of foreign dignitaries who became ill and died while on official visits to the Egyptian court. GR, 1995.10-3.1
#03050354

Clay ground 'Hadra' hydria (water-jar), Greek, probably from Egypt, c200 BC. Thi...

Black-glazed drinking vessel with seated hunter, Etruscan, c300-c280 BC. This wide drinking-cup is decorated with the scene of a hunter at rest, seated with his two spears and accompanied by his dog. It may perhaps be Ganymede. This style of decoration, attempting a three-dimensional representation on pottery rather than merely silhouette, was relatively rare in Etruria, and more popular among the western Greeks. This is, however, a fine example. The artist has successfully attempted some foreshortening of the figure to give perspective, and uses shading and highlight. The technique is known by an Italian term, sovradipinto ('overpainted'), referring to the overlaying of various layers of paint.This cup can probably be taken as evidence for the influence of immigrant Greek potters and painters, though it may have been imported through trade with merchants from the Greek world. GR, 1855.3-6.16 (Vases F 542)
#03050355

Black-glazed drinking vessel with seated hunter, Etruscan, c300-c280 BC. This wi...

Red-figured volute-krater, made in Apulia, Italy, Greek, c325 BC. Wine bowl depicting a white naiskos (small temple) and its occupant, a youth and his horse. Ionic columns support a pediment; the ceiling beams are shown receding into the distance. Below is a plinth decorated with a spiral design. Behind him hang his breastplate and his greaves, (armour for the lower leg). In the course of the fourth century BC, vase painting in Apulia grew increasingly ornate. The elaborate decoration on the neck of this vase, where a female head emerges from an intricate design of scrolls and flowers, is characteristic of late Apulian style. The vase was one of the finest pieces in the first collection of Sir William Hamilton. Josiah Wedgwood produced several replicas of it in black basalt. GR, 1772.3-20.14* (Vases F 284)
#03050356

Red-figured volute-krater, made in Apulia, Italy, Greek, c325 BC. Wine bowl depi...

Red-figured hydria, Greek, c420-c400 BC. The figures on this hydria are divided into two zones. The upper zone illustrates the abduction of the daughters of Leukippos by the Dioskouroi, Kastor and Polydeukes (Castor and Pollux). Aphrodite, goddess of love, sits in the lower part of the scene, clearly conniving in the abduction. Her attendant Peitho, goddess of Persuasion, flees from the scene, but Aphrodite and Zeus, father of the Dioskouroi, do not seem moved. The scene in the lower zone shows Herakles performing his final Labour, receiving the golden apples of the Hesperides from the nymphs responsible for guarding the tree in a garden at the end of the earth. Both scenes are remarkable for their peaceful treatment of violent subjects. This softened mood, along with the delicate treatment of the drapery, is very characteristic of late fifth-century Athenian vase painting. GR, 1772.3-20.30* (Vase E 224)
#03050357

Red-figured hydria, Greek, c420-c400 BC. The figures on this hydria are divided...