Clay basket-shaped vessel with opening ("lantern")



Clay basket-shaped vessel with opening ("lantern")

Π2981
Clay
Incomplete, mended and restored
Height: 31 cm. Width: 23.5 cm.
Hagia Triada
Royal Villa, Room 4
Late Bronze Age, Neopalatial period.:
1700-1450 BC:
Gallery:
VI
Case:
Case 56
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). Private and public life. Bread and circuses
Daily life. Personal care
Description
This peculiar clay vessel was probably a portable lantern or brazier, as the bow-shaped carrying handle indicates. The inhabitants of Neopalatial Crete used artificial lighting in the shape of torches and small portable or larger semi-portable lamps of various materials. In this particular vessel, the large opening in the front extends almost down to the bottom, meaning that the vessel was not filled with a combustible material such as oil or wax. It seems more probable that it was used to burn aromatic plant oils and resins to scent and cleanse indoor and outdoor spaces.
Bibliography:
Puglisi, D. Ceramiche TM I da Haghia Triada (Creta): contesti produzioni funzioni. I. I materiali dai primi scavi. Thiasos Monografie 4, Roma, 2013, cat. L.1, tav. VI, 21, 106-107.
Author:
I. N.


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