Marble vase with lug handles

Technical Analysis: Ultraviolet-induced visible luminescence examination, optical microscopy


This truncated, rather uneven, conical beaker was carved from a small block of whitish marble. Its thin walls taper outward from a flat thick base with everted edges and, at the widest part of the body, taper slightly inward toward a rounded rim. The diametrically protruding lug handles on either side have perforations from which the vessel would have been suspended. On one side there is a single vertical, perforated lug that has a wide rounded shape resembling lugs on pottery of the same period. On the other side there are two smaller lugs, one above the other and separated by a deep groove. The upper of these is vertical, rounded and perforated; the lower is horizontal with a vertical deep, funnel-shaped, unperforated cavity in the center. Most likely these two lugs originally comprised a single, symmetrical, vertical lug that was broken at the time of manufacture. Although repairs of lugs are noted on other vessels of this type, the reworking of the lower horizontal lug with no perforation seems extremely rare.


The date of this beaker and its small size fit well within the range of this type of vessel.(1)


Vertical incisions on the outer surface may be traces of a tool used in its manufacture. There are traces of a lathe drill used to carve out the interior.


The surface is covered with a light-brown, calcareous encrustation. Two cracks, stabilized and topped with two small fills, run down from the rim. A larger repair is located at the rim on the opposite side. One of the lug handles appears flattened in profile indicating there may be some loss on its outer surface of one lug handle. There are additional small losses along the rim and some loss at the base most likely due to impact.


Georgios Gavalas and Wendy Walker


(1) See Getz-Gentle, Pat. 1996. The Stone Vessels of the Cyclades in the Early Bronze Age. pp. 41-63, University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press. In particular, it resembles C5 (London 1889.12-12.1, Antiparos), p. 252, pl. 27a; and C15 (Basel Antikenmuseum, loan from the Bernoulli collection), pp. 253-4, pl. 27c. L.2022.38.26 is also of similar size.