Lidded Krater with Birds and Geometric Designs

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Lidded Krater with Birds and Geometric Designs

Place of OriginGreece, Boeotia

Dateabout 700 BCE

DimensionsH (with lid): 14 3/8 in. (36.5 cm); H (without lid): 10 27/32 in. (27.4 cm); Diam (mouth): 7 17/32 in. (19.1 cm); Diam (with handles): 11 1/8 in. (28.2 cm); Diam (body): 9 7/16 in. (24.0 cm); Diam (foot): 4 3/4 in. (12.1 cm); H (lid): 3 15/32 in. (8.8 cm); Diam (lid): 7 15/32 in. (19 cm)

MediumWheel-thrown, slip-decorated earthenware

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1967.132A-B

Not on View

DescriptionThis lidded earthenware vessel stands on a high, flared pedestal foot decorated with a diamond-chain pattern. The deep, bellied body features two slanted, double-looped handles on the shoulder. The primary decorative frieze on the upper body depicts pairs of confronted water birds with hatched bodies, separated by vertical chevron panels; geometric filling ornaments, including swastikas and lozenges, surround the birds. The lower body is encircled by series of horizontal bands that reduce in size toward the base. The fitted conical lid features a flat-topped knob and is decorated with concentric bands and circles.

Label TextThis rare lidded vessel dates to the end of the Geometric period, a time when Greek art was defined by precise, mathematical patterns. The central panel features two stylized water birds—likely swans or herons—facing each other, a popular motif in the 8th century B.C. While the shape is typical of a krater (a bowl used for mixing wine and water), the presence of a fitted lid suggests this particular object may have been used for storage or as a cinerary urn in a tomb, rather than for serving wine at a symposium. Scholars have long debated its origins. While traditional analysis places it in Boeotia (central Greece), some experts believe it may be an "Italo-Geometric" work—created in Etruria (ancient Italy) by an artist imitating Greek styles.Published References"Catalogue of Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities also Early Islamic Pottery," London, Sotheby and Co., Nov. 11, 1963, lot no. 161.

Canciani, Fulvio, "Böotische Vasen aus dem 8 and 7 Jh.," Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, vol. 80, 1965, p. 32.

Münzen und Medaillen A.G., Werke antiker Kunst: Auktion 34, Basel, May 6, 1967, no. 87, pl. 21.

Coldstream, Nicholas, Greek Geometic Pottery, London: Methuen, 1968, p. 203.

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

Ruckert, Anne, "Frühe Keramik Böotiens," Antike Kunst, Beiheft 10, Bern, 1976, p. 26, note 160.

Isler, Hans Peter, "Ceramisti greci in Etruria in epoca tardogeometrica", Numismatica e antichità classiche. Quaderni ticinesi, vol. 12, 1983, pp. 29, 41.

Boulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus vasorum antiquorum: Toledo Museum of Art, fasc. 3, U.S.A. fasc 20, Mainz, 1984, pl. 66.