Calyx Krater with Gilded Wreath and Grapes

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Calyx Krater with Gilded Wreath and Grapes

Place of OriginItaly, Campania, possibly Cumae

Dateabout 330-320 BCE

Dimensions13 5/8 × 11 3/4 × 4 11/16 in. (34.6 × 29.8 × 11.9 cm)

MediumEarthenware with black glaze (slip) and gilding

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1917.133

Not on View

DescriptionThis is a wheel-thrown earthenware calyx krater, covered in a lustrous black glaze on the interior and exterior. Several narrow bands are "reserved" (left unglazed) on the cul, on both sides of the fillet separating the body from the foot, and in the grooves of the foot's profiling. A gilded wreath of leaves and berries encircles the middle of the body. The berries are rendered in pastiglia (raised pellets of clay) to create a three-dimensional effect. On Side A, a bunch of grapes, also in raised relief, hangs from the center of the wreath. Above each handle, two gilded ribbon ends are depicted, each terminating in a cluster of three berries. The outer edge of the rim features a painted wave pattern.

Label TextThis elegant calyx krater was used for mixing wine with water at ancient Greek drinking parties called symposia. Its shiny black-glazed surface and delicate gilding were designed to imitate the appearance of expensive bronze or silver vessels. Made in Campania, a Greek-colonized region of southern Italy, the vessel is decorated with a gilded wreath of leaves and berries. On one side, a bunch of grapes hangs from the wreath, a direct reference to the wine this krater was made to hold.Published ReferencesBoulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Toledo Museum of Art, fasc. 2, U.S.A., fasc. 20, Mainz, 1984, pl. 115.Comparative ReferencesSee also Mouret, P. Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Collection Mouret, fasc. unique, France fasc. 6. Paris, 1927, pl. 19, nos. 1, 4, 5, pp. 4-6, 22, 23.

cf. Breitenstein, N. and F.K. Johansen, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Musée National fasc. 7, Denmark fasc. 7, Copenhagen, 1955, pl. 273, no. 1, text sect. IV E.

cf. Rohde, E., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Gotha faxc. 2, Germany fasc. 29, Berlin, 1968, pl. 94, no. 3, p. 50, no. 3.

cf. Luken, G. von, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Stattliches Museum, Schwerin, Band 1, Deutsche Democratische Republik Band 1, Berlin, 1972, t. 58, no. 1, p. 35.