Marble bowl
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.Technical Analysis: Ultraviolet-induced visible luminescence examination, optical microscopy
This nearly complete, relatively deep marble bowl consists of a clearly defined rolled rim and a flat base. The exterior of the rim is undercut by a smooth groove. The bowl’s original smoothed surface is well-preserved. Its size allows its assignment to the deep bowl type and the formation of its rim to Gavalas’s subvariety C.(1) L.2022.38.93 seems to be of comparable size. There are two bonded fragments and a fill at the rim, as well as three cracks that run down from the rim and one along its outer edge. The surface is noticeably free of accretion, but highly weathered.
Georgios Gavalas and Wendy Walker
(1) See Gavalas, Giorgos. 2018. “The Stone Vessels” in C. Renfrew, O. Philaniotou, N. Brodie, G. Gavalas and M.J. Boyd, eds. The Sanctuary on Keros and the Origins of Aegean Ritual Practice, Vol. III: The Marble Finds from Kavos and the Archaeology of Ritual, McDonald Institute Monographs, pp. 263-64 and pp. 269-73, fig. 4.3. This type of vessel is discussed by Getz-Gentle, Pat. 1996. The Stone Vessels of the Cyclades in the Early Bronze Age. pp. 99-105, pl. 50-55, University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press. See pl. 50 d for the closest parallel in size.
This nearly complete, relatively deep marble bowl consists of a clearly defined rolled rim and a flat base. The exterior of the rim is undercut by a smooth groove. The bowl’s original smoothed surface is well-preserved. Its size allows its assignment to the deep bowl type and the formation of its rim to Gavalas’s subvariety C.(1) L.2022.38.93 seems to be of comparable size. There are two bonded fragments and a fill at the rim, as well as three cracks that run down from the rim and one along its outer edge. The surface is noticeably free of accretion, but highly weathered.
Georgios Gavalas and Wendy Walker
(1) See Gavalas, Giorgos. 2018. “The Stone Vessels” in C. Renfrew, O. Philaniotou, N. Brodie, G. Gavalas and M.J. Boyd, eds. The Sanctuary on Keros and the Origins of Aegean Ritual Practice, Vol. III: The Marble Finds from Kavos and the Archaeology of Ritual, McDonald Institute Monographs, pp. 263-64 and pp. 269-73, fig. 4.3. This type of vessel is discussed by Getz-Gentle, Pat. 1996. The Stone Vessels of the Cyclades in the Early Bronze Age. pp. 99-105, pl. 50-55, University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press. See pl. 50 d for the closest parallel in size.
Artwork Details
- Title: Marble bowl
- Period: Early Cycladic II
- Date: ca. 2700–2400/2300 BCE
- Culture: Cycladic
- Medium: Marble
- Dimensions: Height: 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm)
Diameter: 6 5/8 in. (16.8 cm)
Thickness: 3/8 in. (.9 cm) - Classification: Stone Sculpture
- Credit Line: Leonard N. Stern Collection, Loan from the Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Culture
- Object Number: L.2022.38.150
- Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art