Fragment of a relief pithos
In the late 8th and 7th c. BC, the intensification of sea trade in the Mediterranean created favorable conditions for cultural interaction. In the Aegean, so strong were influences from the east that many scholars speak of an ‘orientalizing phase’ of Greek Art.
The illustrated fragment comes from the neck of a huge pithos (rim diam. ca. 50 cm.) decorated with relief motifs in orientalizing style: a procession of sphinxes (mythical creatures with human head, body of a lion, and wings) with Egyptianizing hairstyle of the so-called ‘daedalic’ style and polos (head cover), from which spring two spirals.
Relief pithoi were produced in various workshops of Crete, the Cyclades (Naxos, Tenos, Melos) and other areas in the 7th c. BC. The illustrated fragment is Cretan in style and is likely to have come from the sanctuary of Aphrati in East Crete (iPediada region, Herakleion Prefecture). Relief pithoi were coil-built and could reach 1.50 m. in height. The relief motifs were made in moulds and later applied on the surface of the pithos with the help of wet clay. The use of moulds explains the repeatability of decorative motifs in such pithoi.
PUBLICATION
– Βrouskari M. 1975. “Collection Paul Canellopoulos (VI). Δαιδάλεια Όστρακα”, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 99, 385-400, ειδ. 393-394.
– Moschonisioti S. 2006. Cat. no. 24, in Choremi-Spetsieri Α. – Zarkadas Α. (eds), Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Museum. Ancient Art, Αthens, 45.
