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Clay vase in shape of male siren

Π33096
Orange clay
End of tail broken. Mended in two places, minor restoration
Height: 16.1 cm. Length: 20 cm. Width: 13 cm.
Knossos
North Cemetery
Archaic period:
570-560 BC:
Gallery:
XIX
Case:
196
Exhibition thematic unit:
Geometric - Archaic - Classical period (10th-4th c. BC). The Cemeteries
Description
Bird vase with slightly raised male head, representing a male Siren. It is depicted with legs bent under the belly and closed wings, indicating a seated posture. The figure has a wide-open mouth with painted tongue, strongly marked incised and painted facial features, and arms bent symmetrically with fists clenched on the chest, which is swollen with effort. All this constitutes a vivid expression of grief and lamentation for the premature death of the boy buried in the well-made tomb in which the vase, probably specially commissioned, was placed as a funerary offering. The wings and feathers of the mythical bird are rendered with lines, dots and stylised motifs, sometimes relatively realistic and sometimes conventional (for example on the breast), in various shades of brown on a buff slip. There is a strap handle running from the neck to the lower back.
Bibliography:
Α. Lebessi, "Ο θρήνος στην κρητική κοινωνία της 1ης χιλιετίας", Αρχαιολογική Εφημερίδα 149 (2010), 61-82. Ibid., condensed article of the same title in: Α. Giannikouri (ed.), Κοροπλαστική και μικροτεχνία στον αιγαικό χώρο από τους γεωμετρικούς έως και τη ρωμαϊκή περίοδο, Διεθνές συνέδριο στη μνήμη της Ηούς Ζερβουδάκη Ρόδος 226-29.11.2009), Athens 2014, vol. ΙΙ, 169-184. On the iconography of the siren generally see D. Kechagias, "Πήλινα ειδώλια Σειρήνων από την περιοχή του Αιγαίου: μιξογενή πλάσματα εξ Ανατολής, Α. Giannikouri (ed.), Κοροπλαστική και μικροτεχνία στον αιγαικό χώρο από τους γεωμετρικούς έως και τη ρωμαϊκή περίοδο, Διεθνές συνέδριο στη μνήμη της Ηούς Ζερβουδάκη Ρόδος 226-29.11.2009), Athens 2014, vol. ΙΙ, 195-206.
Author:
K. S.


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