Tall alabastron with crocuses and olive branches
Π4537
Clay
Incomplete, mended and restored.
Height: 19 cm.
Palaikastro
Trial trench in a house south of Roussolakkos.
Late Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Late Minoan ΙB period.:
1500-1450 BC:
Gallery:
VCase:
48Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). The New Palaces. The zenith of Minoan civilisationSettlements of East Crete
Description
This vase from Palaikastro is a tasteful example of a tall alabastron. These are generally small vases with a narrow mouth, perhaps used to store and transport small quantities of liquids such as perfumed oils. This particular alabastron was found in a domestic context, but these vases were frequently deposited as grave goods containing offerings to the deceased in the Late Minoan period. This vase is painted in the Floral Style of Late Minoan IB, with features that are strongly reminiscent of the naturalistic tradition of the preceding period. On the body is a wide zone of olive branches and crocus flowers, finely painted in a relatively open arrangement, contrary to the dominant Close Style, which favoured dense decoration in contemporary vase-painting. The olive branch theme has been identified on vessels of the same period from Knossos and other Cretan sites, while the stylistic similarities have led to the suggestion that they are the work of the same artist or workshop. The same theme also appears in large-scale painting, most typically on fresco fragments from Knossos.Bibliography:
Bosanquet, R.C. and R.M. Dawkins. The Unpublished Objects from the Palaikastro Excavations: 1902-1906. The British School at Athens Supplementary Papers 1. London, 1923, fig. 25. Betancourt, P.P. The History of Minoan Pottery. Princeton, 1985, pl. 21Δ. Mandalaki, S. and G. Rethemiotakis. Μινωικός Κόσμος. Ταξίδι στις Απαρχές της Ευρώπης. Heraklion, 2015, 56.Author:
I. N.Photographs' metadata