Kalpis (water vessel)

Place of OriginGreece, reportedly from Thessaloniki

Date300-200 BCE

DimensionsH: 14 5/8 in. (37.2 cm); Diam (mouth flange): 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm); Max Diam (body): 10 7/16 in. (26.5 cm)

MediumSilver

ClassificationMetalwork

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

Object number

1979.1

On View

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

Label TextItems are usually regarded as luxurious either because of the cost of their materials or the amount of labor required to make them. This silver water jar meets both criteria. The silver would have come from melting down silver coins. It weighs 595 Attic drachme—an immense sum, equivalent to almost two years’ wages for a laborer. But an immense amount of labor went into creating this vessel as well. The main part and the foot were raised, or cold-hammered, from blanks of silver, and then attached together. The handles were cast from silver, then riveted onto the vessel. Only a very wealthy person could have afforded such a luxurious item.Published References"1979 Annual Report," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 21, no. 4, 1979, p. 78, repr. Gill, David W. J., “Inscribed Silver Plate from Tomb II at Vergina: Chronological Implications,” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 77, no. 2, 2008, pp. 339.

Sowder, Amy Ann, Greek Bronze Hydriai, PhD diss., Emory University, Laney Graduate School, Department of Art History, 2009, pp. 407, 793–794.

Exhibition HistoryChicago, Art Institute, The Search for Alexander, 1981, no. S-9, repr.