• Plastic vessel in the shape of a man's head



Plastic vessel in the shape of a man's head
Plastic vessel in the shape of a man's head
Plastic vessel in the shape of a man's head

Plastic vessel in the shape of a man's head

Π5831
Clay
Intact
Height: 14.5 cm. without handle)
Phaistos
Palace
Late Bronze Age. Postpalatial period, Late Minoan ΙIIB period.:
1300 - 1200 BC:
Gallery:
XI
Case:
125
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Postpalatial period (1300-1100 BC). Settlements. Sanctuaries. Tombs
.
Description
Libation vessel (rhyton) with base and handle, modelled in the shape of a man’s head. The filling and pouring holes are in the flat top of the head and the base respectively. The eyes are rendered in high relief. The nose, mouth, goatee and ears are added separately to the main body of the vessel. The eyes, the forehead curls, the sideburns and the goatee are highlighted in brownish-red paint. This rhyton from Phaistos is difficult to define, as it combines features of vessels and figurines. This is one of the earliest plastic anthropomorphic vessels to appear in Crete in Late Minoan IIIB. They are common in Late Minoan IIIC and continue into the Early Greek period, and are used for ritual purposes. It has been argued that the Minoans drew their inspiration for these vessels from similar vessels from the wider region of Syro-Palestine.
Bibliography:
Carinci, F.M. "Il Rhyton a Protome Umana di Festos. Appunti per una Classificazione." Rivista di Archeologia XXI (1997): 13-27. Pernier, L. and L. Banti. Il Palazzo Minoico di Fest?s. Volume II. Roma, 1951, 180, 507-512, fig. 103b, 288. Rethemiotakis, G. Ανθρωπομορφική Πηλοπλαστική στην Κρήτη από τη Νεοανακτορική έως την Υπομινωική Περίοδο. Βιβλιοθήκη της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας no. 174. Athens, 1998, 38-39, 77-79, pl. 35γ, δ.
Author:
E. S.


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