Hydria with Lion-Head Handle

Place of OriginGreece, reportedly from Thessaly

Dateabout 490 BCE

DimensionsH (max) 20 3/4 × H (to rim) 18 7/16 × W (max) 15 1/2 × D (max) 13 1/4 × Diam (rim) 7 5/8 × Diam (body) 12 3/8 × Diam (base) 6 1/16 in. (52.7 × 46.8 × 39.4 × 33.7 × 19.4 × 31.4 × 15.4 cm).

MediumBronze

ClassificationMetalwork

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

Object number

1964.125

On View

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

DescriptionThis bronze water vessel features a tall vertical handle rising above the rim, culminating in a sculpted open-mouthed lion’s head. The lion’s mane is rendered in low relief, and a central beaded ridge resembling a serpent’s body runs up the spine of the handle. A flattened lion forepart anchors the lower attachment of the handle. On either side of the upper mount are circular rotelles with beaded edges and rosettes on their outer faces. The vessel has rounded shoulders, a flaring neck, and horizontal handles at each side.

Label TextAlthough today we think of Greek painted pottery as luxury items, in antiquity they were relatively modest substitutes for truly luxurious vessels in either bronze or precious metals. The body of this vase is made of thinly hammered bronze; the foot, rim, and all handles were cast separately and attached. The long handle in back is decorated with the head of a roaring lion at the top and the pelt of a lion, including head and tail, at the base. The hydria vase shape was designed to collect water from a fountain. The two side handles were used to lift the vessel; the tall back handle was for pouring.Published References"Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, new series, vol. 7, no. 4, Winter 1964, repr. p. 80.

Wittmann, Otto, "Treasures at Toledo, Ohio," Apollo, vol. LXXXI, no. 35, January 1965, pp. 28-35, mentioned p. 35.

Bothmer, Dietrich von, Review: "Erika Diehl's Die Hydria, Formgeschichte und Verwendung im Kult des Altertums," Mainz, 1964, GNOMON, Kristische Zeitschrift Für die Gesamte Klassische Altertumswissenschaft, v. 37, 1965, p. 601-602.

"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums," Art Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 2, Summer 1967, p. 153, repr. p. 155.

Toledo Museum of Art, A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1966, repr.

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

Tarditi, Chiara, “Bronze Vessels from the Acropolis and the Definition of the Athenian Production in Archaic and Early Classical Periods,” in Artistry in Bronze: The Greeks and Their Legacy, edited by Jens M. Daehner, Kenneth Lapatin, and Ambra Spinelli, Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum; Getty Conservation Institute, 2017, p. 202, n. 17.

Tarditi, Chiara, “Beyond Trade: The Presence of Archaic and Classical Greek Bronze Vessels in the Northern Black Sea Area,” in Greek Art in Motion: Studies in Honour of Sir John Boardman on the Occasion of His 90th Birthday, Oxford, Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, 2019, p. 145, n. 50, 147, n. 53.

Exhibition History"Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art, 1964.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Bothmer, Dietrich von, "Bronze Hydriai," The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. 13, no. 6, Feb. 1955, p. 193, et. seq., esp. pp. 193-196.

cf. Bothmer, Dietrich von, "Newly Acquired Bronzes - Greek, Etrusan, and Roman," The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. 19, no. 5, January 1961, p. 139 et swq., esp. p. 141.

cf. Richter, G.M.A., A Handbook of Greek Art, 2nd ed., London, 1960, p. 199, et seq.