[ΚΕΝΟ]



Beaked jug with relief decoration

Π2399
Clay
Mended and restored.
Height: 20.3 cm. Width: 11.4 cm.
Knossos
Deposit W of the palace. Excavation.
Middle Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Middle Minoan ΙΙΙA period.:
1700-1650 BC:
Gallery:
IV
Case:
40
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). The New Palaces. The zenith of Minoan civilisation
Palaces - Palatial Buildings
Description
Relief decoration on clay vases flourished for a brief period during the early New Palace period, with few but interesting examples from a pictorial point of view. This vase, a small jug with a wide beaked spout, is decorated on the body with appliqu? ornaments in high relief, representing stylised ears of wheat. Following the dominant style of vase decoration at the time, the surface of the jug was painted a dark colour with white details highlighting the relief elements. The relief and, in the following period, painted depiction of cereals on vases may have had a symbolic significance, given the vital part they played in the diet of the societies of prehistoric Crete and the Aegean generally.
Bibliography:
Hogarth, D.G. "Knossos II. Early Town and Cemeteries". Annual of the British School at Athens 6 (1899-1900): 80, fig. 24. Hogarth, D.G. and F.B. Welch. "Primitive painted pottery in Crete". Journal of Hellenic Studies XXI (1901): 84, fig. 7. 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. I, London, 1921, 414, fig. 299a.
Author:
I. N.


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