The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Terracotta bell-krater (mixing bowl) with lid

Terracotta bell-krater (mixing bowl) with lid

Period:: Classical
Date:: late 5th century B.C.
Culture:: Greek, Boeotian
Medium:: Terracotta; red-figure
Dimensions:: H. 7 in. (17.8 cm.) H. with cover. 9 in. (22.9 cm.) D. 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm.)
Classification:: Vases
Credit Line:: Rogers Fund, 1906
Accession Number:: 06.1021.232a, b

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 171

Description

The hippocamp, a fantastic monster with a horse's body and a fish's tail, was fairly uncommon in Classical Greek art. He plays no part in any extant mythological tale but in art is sometimes ridden by the wise sea god Nereus or sea nymphs. Characteristically, the body of the creature on this vase is without scales and has an erect, crescent tail and spiky fins.
References

Collection Canessa, p. 76, no. 262 (illus.).
Shepard, Katharine, The Fishtailed Monster in Greek and Etruscan Art, (1940), p. 40.
Beazley, J.D., "Groups of Campanian Red-figure," Journal of Hellenic Studies, 63 (1943), p. 68, (There attributed to the group of the Wurzburg Scylla).
Collection de M.E., Sale Catalogue, Hotel Drouot, 2 juin, 1904, p. 28, no. 176, pl. 9.
Ure, A.D. American Journal of Archaeology, 57, (1953), pp. 245 ff., pl. 66, figs. 1-3.
Richter, Handbook of the Greek Collection (1953), p. 115, note 80.
See also
Who
Würzburg Scylla (1)
What
Clay (23,649)

Vessels (21,921)

Vases (8,895)

Terracotta (8,373)

Bells (876)

Kraters (282)
Where
Europe (148,586)

Greece (6,287)
When
1000 B.C.-A.D. 1 (23,148)
In the Museum
Greek and Roman Art (17,329)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Ancient Greece, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.