Pitcher (Olpe) with Four-Horse Chariot

Artist Honolulu Class

Place of OriginGreece, Attica

Dateabout 530 BCE

Dimensions8 7/8 × 5 × 5 3/4 in. (22.5 × 12.7 × 14.6 cm)

MediumBlack Figure; Wheel-thrown, slip-decorated earthenware with incised details

ClassificationCeramics

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

Object number

1961.22

On View

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

DescriptionBulging jug without a neck, with nearly flat handle flush at the rim. Narrow, understated foot. Decorative details include red stripes on the rim and foot, with a double stripe beneath the image. Frieze of palmettes and bands above the main image. Central depiction of a frontal four-horse chariot (quadriga), driver indicated through outline details, and incised harness and body elements. Restorations include the right chariot box and breast sections of two horses.

Label TextAn olpe is the Greek word for a small pitcher without a spout. The scene on the front shows a racing quadriga (four-horse chariot) before a race. We can see from the portion of the chariot visible between the horses that its construction was very light, practically no more than a platform and a railing for the driver. Chariot races are known to have occurred at the Olympic games as early as 680 BCE and probably were part of the other Greek international games as well. It was the sponsor of the winning chariot who got the glory—the driver was merely an employee, though they achieved their own level of fame (see the amphora by Exekias).Published ReferencesIllustrated London News, May 11, 1960, p. 1029.

Münzen und Medaillen AG Basel, Kunstwerke der Antike: Auktion XXII, 13 May 1961, p. 66, lot no. 129.

Washington, S., "Greek Vase Painting," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 5, no. 4, 1962, p. 82.

Riefstahl, Rudolph M., "Greek Vases," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 2, no. 2, 1968, p. 32.

Beazley, John D., Paralipomena, Oxford, 1971, p. 193, no.1.

Luckner, Kurt T., "Greek Vases: Shapes and Uses," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 15, no. 3, 1972, p. 74-75, fig. 18.

Boulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus vasorum antiquorum: Toledo Museum of Art, U.S.A. Fasc. 17, Toledo, 1976, p. 19-20, repr. pl. 27,1 and 2.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Hafner, Viergespanne in Vorderansicht, Berlin, 1938, (on frontal four-horse chariots).