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Piriform (Pear-Shaped) Jar with Sea Creatures

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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
  • Decorative Arts
Published References"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums," Art Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 2, 1967, pp. 153, 155.

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.
Water Jar (Hydria) with Women at a Fountain
Priam Painter
about 520-510 BCE
Drinking Cup (Kylix) in "Bilingual" Style
The Painter of the Bowdoin Eye Cup
about 520 BCE
Hydria with Chariot Scene
The Leagros Group, Painter S
about 510 BCE
Beaked Jug
Mycenaean, 1425-1400 BCE
Kylix (drinking cup)
Mycenaean, 1375-1300 BCE
Amphora (storage vessel)
Mycenaean, about 1150 BCE
Kylix (drinking cup)
Mycenaean, 1400-1300 BCE

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