Terracotta stirrup jar with octopus

Period:
Late Helladic IIIC
Date:
ca. 1200–1100 B.C.
Culture:
Helladic, Mycenaean
Medium:
Terracotta
Dimensions:
H. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm); diameter 8 7/16 in. (21.5 cm)
Classification:
Vases
Credit Line:
Purchase, Louise Eldridge McBurney Gift, 1953
Accession Number:
53.11.6
  • Description

    The shape takes its name from the configuration of the spout and the two attached handles. Such jars were commonly used to transport liquids. Mycenaean artists adopted the marine motifs from Minoan antecedents.

  • Provenance

    [Until 1953, with Nicolas Koutoulakis, Geneva and Paris]; acquired in 1953, purchased from Nicolas Koutoulakis, Galerie Segredakis, Paris.

  • References

    1954. "Recent Accessions of Greek and Etruscan Art." The Metropolitan Musem of Art Bulletin 13(2): p. 60.

    Hafner, G. 1961. Geschichte der griechischen Kunst. Zürich: Atlantis, p. 48, pl. 45.

    Caldwell, W. E., and M. F. Gyles. 1966. The Ancient World. 3rd ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, ill. p. 175.

    Rousseau, Theodore. 1970. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 29(3): p. 133.

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1970. Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries. New York: E. P. Dutton, p. 103, no. 46, ill.

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1987. Greece and Rome. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 2, pp. 14-15.

    Picón, Carlos A., et al. 2007. Art of the Classical World in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 27, pp. 43, 412.

  • See also
    What
    Where
    When
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
    MetPublications
130015279

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