Stirrup jar with decoration in the Special Palatial Tradition



Stirrup jar with decoration in the Special Palatial Tradition

Π13963
Clay
Mended and restored.
Height: 27 cm. Maximum diameter of body: 44 cm.
Zakros
Palace, Room Θ from SE corner
Late Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Late Minoan ΙI period.:
1500-1450 BC:
Gallery:
IV
Case:
42
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). The New Palaces. The zenith of Minoan civilisation
Palace of Zakros
Description
Stirrup jars were a distinctive type of vessel for transporting liquids in the Neopalatial period, which were particularly popular in Mycenaean times. The special feature of these vases, also known as “false-necked amphorae”, is that their narrow cylindrical neck was sealed when they were made and surrounded by two or, more rarely, three handles, as on this example from Zakros. This means that the false spout was only used for carrying the vessel, in conjunction with the handles. The real pouring spout, at the side of the neck, was easily sealed with a stopper during transport. The stopper was secured by strings tied around the handles and the small hook-shaped or ring-shaped protrusions around the mouth. The false spout relieved the pressure inside the vessel, making it more difficult for the stopper to come away during transport, and thus ensuring the safety of the contents on journeys by land and sea. This amphora from Zakros has a squat globular body decorated with typical stylised motifs of the Special Palatial Tradition. On the shoulder is a repeated foliate band. Most of the body is covered with running spirals with a central rosette, lozenges filled with smaller lozenges, and double arches with pendant tongue-pattern ornaments. A stylised lily adorns the stopper of the false spout.
Bibliography:
Platon, N. "Ανασκαφή Ζάκρου". Πρακτικά της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας 1962 (1965): pl. 155β, 156β. Platon, N. Zakros. The Discovery of a Lost Palace of ancient Crete. New York, 1971, 118. Betancourt, Ph.P. Η Ιστορία της Μινωικής κεραμεικής (trans. Th. Iliopoulos). Athens, 1985, pl. 22Ε.
Author:
I. N.


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