• Clay rhyton decorated in a combination of dark-on-light and light-on-dark



Clay rhyton decorated in a combination of dark-on-light and light-on-dark
Clay rhyton decorated in a combination of dark-on-light and light-on-dark

Clay rhyton decorated in a combination of dark-on-light and light-on-dark

Π2086
Clay
Incomplete, mended and restored.
Height (restored): 22 cm. Rim diameter: 6/2.3 cm.
Zakros
Hogarth Excavation Pit I
Middle Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Middle Minoan ΙΙΙΒ/Late Minoan ΙA period.:
1650-1550 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
This vessel is a piriform rhyton, a type of vessel for decanting liquids and/or pouring libations in the context of ritual practices. It has a narrow mouth for filling and a small pouring hole in the rounded conical base. The shape of the vessel, the form of the mouth, and the relief collar at the base of the neck refer to corresponding morphological features of stone rhyta. It is particularly interesting to note the combination of dark-on-light and light-on-dark painted decoration on the same vase. The upper body is adorned with white petaloid loops containing lilies, alternating with wavy concentric arches perhaps representing a rocky landscape, as in the next zone around the centre of the vase. The lower body features dark-on-light tortoiseshell ripple decoration, thought to be a stylised depiction of tortoiseshell. The combination of the two styles, the older white decoration and the newer dark decoration, dates the vase to the beginning of the Late Bronze Age. The survival of the older white style into Late Minoan IA on vessels such as this rhyton from Zakros may indicate an element of conservatism in the ceramic production of mainly East Cretan sites.
Bibliography:
Hogarth, D.G. "Bronze Age vases from Zakros". Journal of Hellenic Studies 22 (1902): 338, pl. 12.3. Evans, A.J. The Palace of Minos: A Comparative Account of the Successive Stages of the Early Cretan Civilization as Illustrated by the Discoveries at Knossos. Vol. II,1, London, 1928, 225-226, fig. 129.7. Betancourt, Ph.P. Η Ιστορία της Μινωικής κεραμεικής (trans. Th. Iliopoulos). Athens, 1985, pl. 15Ε. Koehl, R.B. Aegean Bronze Age Rhyta. INSTAP Prehistory Monographs 19. Philadelphia, Penn., 2006, 87, no. 93, pl. 10.
Author:
I. N.


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