Palace Style pithoid jar
Π14040
Clay
Incomplete, mended and restored
Height: 68 cm. Rim diameter: 40 cm.
Zakros
Palace, West Wing, Room of the Painted Pithoid Jars
Late Bronze Age, Neopalatial period, Late Minoan IB period:
1500-1450 BC:
Gallery:
IVCase:
Not in caseExhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). The New Palaces. The zenith of Minoan civilisationPithoid jars
Description
This vessel from the palace of Zakros is a pithoid jar, a type of storage vessel. However, it is clearly a refined version of the form, as the quality of its construction and rich decoration indicate. The elegant outlines of the jar are highlighted by narrow bands in low relief around the neck and base, and by the arrangement of the decoration in horizontal zones across the whole surface. The shoulder is adorned with a row of spirals with central dots, while on the body are two wide zones, the central one containing pairs of large petaloid loops, and the lower one featuring a row of reeds. The red-brown decoration is picked out in white, heightening the aesthetic result. The vessel was made and used when the palace was at its peak, in the Late Minoan I period. Due to its shape and elaborate decoration, it can be seen as a precursor of the Palace Style pithoid jars of the following period.Bibliography:
Hogarth, D.G. "Bronze Age vases from Zakros". Journal of Hellenic Studies 22 (1902): pI. XII, 2.Author:
I. N.Photographs' metadata