Piriform (Pear-Shaped) Jar with Sea Creatures
Piriform (Pear-Shaped) Jar with Sea Creatures
Place of OriginGreece, stylistically attributed to Ialysos (Rhodes)
DateMycenaean, 1375--1300 B.C
DimensionsH: 16 1/8 in. (40.9 cm); Max Diam (body): 42 5/32 in. (107.1 cm); Diam (lip): 6 5/16 in. (16 cm); Diam (foot): 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm)
MediumWheel-thrown, slip-decorated earthenware
ClassificationCeramics
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1965.173
Not on View
Collections
Published References"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums," Art Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 2, 1967, pp. 153, 155.
- Decorative Arts
Vermeule, Emily, "Myths, Shapes and Colors," Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, 1967, p. 418, fig. 1.
Riefstahl, Rudolph, "Greek Vases," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 11, no. 2, 1968, p. 29.
Lakofsky, Charles, Pottery, Dubuque, 1968, p. 84, fig. 83.
Ebertshauser, Heidi C. and Michael Walts, Antiken I, Vasen-Bronzen-Terrakotten des klassischen Altertums, Munchen, 1981, p. 29, fig. 25.
Boulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Toledo Museum of Art fasc. 2, U.S.A. fasc. 20, Mainz, 1984, pl. 62.
Label TextNotice the small holes located underneath the handles of this jar. This crucial feature allowed for uniform drying of the clay and was a common practice for larger pieces of Mycenaean ceramic art (see also the Beaked Jug). The holes are located near especially thick regions in the vessel and helped to minimize the hazard of drying cracks. A horizontal band of clam-like shells and argonauts, a relative of the octopus, decorate the shoulder of this jar, emphasizing the strong ties that the Mycenaean people had to the sea. Although the dealer from whom this vessel was acquired stated, without evidence, it was found at Argos in the Peloponnese, its style more closely resembles examples found at Ialysos on the island of Rhodes.560-540 BCE
620-600 BCE
about 700 BCE
800-700 BCE
Mycenaean, 1425-1400 BCE
Mycenaean, 1375-1300 BCE
Mycenaean, about 1150 BCE
Mycenaean, 1400-1300 BCE
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