Modern scholars have named this type of vase a stirrup jar, so called because of the stirrup-shaped handles at the top. Like so many Greek ceramics, the piece harmoniously combines surface decoration and three-dimensional form. The central element is a large octopus, its hourglass-shaped body swelling with the curved wall of the jar. Its eight arms curve with the form of the vessel even as they seem to float in water. The freedom of the painter’s line gives life to the picture. Look at the quick strokes that depict the suckers on the octopus’ tentacles, and the pattern of arching lines around its body. These may indicate the membranes between its limbs, or the ripples of water around it as it moves.
On the back of the jar is another, similar octopus. As you walk around the vessel, you see first one and then the other. No one point of view shows both entire, but on the sides, you can see how the spiraling ends of their tentacles almost touch, as though they were reaching for one another. This reach keeps the decoration going all around the vessel. The painter used similar patterns and types of lines to describe all the creatures on the jar and create a pleasing harmony among them. The fish’s scales, for example, repeat the same pattern of curves you see around the octopus’ body. The circular forms in the octopus’ eyes repeat at the ends of their tentacles.
This vessel is a product of the Mycenaean culture of mainland Greece, but the marine imagery of the decoration derives from the art of Minoan Crete. When the Mycenaeans conquered Crete, Minoan styles exerted considerable influence on the art of the mainland.
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