VesselsMycenaean13th century BCE

Large Stirrup Jar

c. 1320 BCE-1190 BCE

Description

Large ovoid stirrup jar. Broad ring base. Rounded body with maximum diameter above center. Broad shoulder with narrow, tubular spout and slightly flaring rim, positioned vertically. False spout behind it, at top of jar, is of the same height and terminates in a broadly flaring, slightly concave disc. Short, broad strap handles are attached to the rim of the false spout and the upper shoulder of the jar. Pale buff material decorated with a burnt umber slip. Slip variously solid and streaky in application. Glossy surface. Exterior of ring base slipped. Above this are three narrow bands of decoration on the body and lower shoulder of the vessel. The lowermost of these is a banded zone consisting of two thin lines flanked by a thick band above and below. The middle zone contains a triglyph-style frieze with rectangular spaces filled with billowy lines alternating with largely blank spaces bordered along the top edge by small pendant loops. Another banded zone is contained above this, at mid-shoulder level, with several thin lines again flanked by the thicker ones. Marine mollusc shells, stippled in rows and seen in profile, decorate the jar's shoulder. Disc surface of false spout decorated with a spiral. Handles are entirely orange-slipped, save for a reserved triangle at their junction with the rim of the false spout. A figure-eight shaped band runs around the bases of the spout and false spout. Vessel has been reassembled from many fragments. Infilling of gaps during treatment by conservation department in 1999.

Classification

Vessels

Technique

Wheel-made

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Mycenaean

Period

Helladic period, Late Helladic IIIB

Century

13th century BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Dimensions

c. 22 x 25.5 cm (8 11/16 x 10 1/16 in.)

Provenance

Lundhal Collection, Antwerp, Belgium (1930s). [Royal-Athena Galleries, New York (by 1998)], sold; to the Harvard University Art Museums.

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