Terracotta bowl on a high stand

These objects, consisting of one piece, evolved from containers placed upon a support, frequently a tripod; the prototypes would have been of bronze. The rectangular cutouts in the stands also recall metalworking. In a funerary context, such "fruit stands", as they are often called, probably held offerings.


This bowl on high stand belongs to a group of eight terracotta vases (10.210.1-.8) that are said to be from Athens. Despite the absence of archaeological record, they were probably found together in a tomb. Such groups are well attested in excavated burials. Moreover, the iconography of the two neck-amphorae, particularly the one with the mourning women on the neck, is appropriate for a funerary purpose. The group displays stylistic changes that occurred from about 730-700 BCE, a time of artistic innovation that resulted in the end of the formal precision of the Geometric style and the rise of the exuberant Protoattic style.