Amphora with Horses and Geometric Designs

Place of OriginGreece, from Attica

Dateabout 730 BCE (Late Geometric IIa )

Dimensions22 3/4 × 10 1/2 × 11 5/8 × 4 3/8 × 6 7/8 in. (57.8 × 26.7 × 29.5 × 11.1 × 17.5 cm)

MediumWheel-thrown, slip-decorated earthenware

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1926.43

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionThis amphora is tall with a narrow foot, broad shoulder, and short neck, as restored. The surface is densely covered with geometric motifs including chevrons, zigzags, X-shapes, and dotted bands. On the neck, two horses stand in heraldic opposition flanking a central post, while the body displays a frieze of left-facing horses. Below the neck are stylized long-necked birds.

Label TextWith patterns and designs covering every inch, this vase is an example of what is now called the Geometric period of Greek art. Although most of the decoration takes the form of abstract motifs such as triangles, zigzags, Xs, and dots, there are some figures present. On the neck you can spy two heraldic horses tethered to a central post, while on the body a row of horses parade to the left. Long-necked birds are depicted directly below the neck of the vase. The Geometric period was a time of growth in Greece when the city-state (polis) was formed, the Greek alphabet adopted, and epic poems like the Iliad and Odyssey composed.Published References

Washington, Seldon, "Greek Vase Painting," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, new series, vol. 5, no. 4, Winter 1962, repr. p. 75.

Riefstahl, Rudolf M., "Greek Vases," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, new series, vol. 11, no. 2, 1968, repr. p. 30.

Boulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus vasorum antiquorum: Toledo Museum of Art, U.S.A. fasc. 17, Toledo, 1976, p. 1, repr. pl. 1 and 2, 1.

Psychedelic Mania: Stephen Rolfe Powell's Dance with Glass, Montgomery, AL, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 2012, p. 22, repr. p. 24, fig. 6.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Coldstream, J.N. Greek Geometic Pottery, London, 1968, pp. 55-57 (Subdipylon Group), pp. 31-32, iii (source of horse type) pp. 66, 12 (heraldic horse arrangement).