A round vessel with a wide spout and handle.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A vessel which is entirely round, with a short neck and wide spout, one edge of the spout continues into a flat handle which connects to the body of the vessel. In black and red there are concentric circles around the spout, round ovals on the body surrounding the neck, and below that a figure with their arms and legs bent as if running. They are surrounded by uneven organic shapes which are geometrically divided into sixths.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2012.1.64
Title
Black-figure Globular Aryballos
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
6th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Corinth (Corinthia)
Period
Archaic period
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/175061

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta
Technique
Wheel-made
Dimensions
6.21 x 6.09 cm (2 7/16 x 2 3/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Fallani, Rome] (by 1951), sold; to the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University (1951-2012), transfer; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2012.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University
Accession Year
2012
Object Number
2012.1.64
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Intact and of a typically Corinthian buff clay, this globular aryballos depicts three padded dancers (komast dancers). Concentric circles are on the top of the disc-shaped mouth; around the side are a series of dots. Oblong, petal-like shapes decorate the shoulder, above two additional lines encircling the upper part of the body. On the main section of the vessel, the three dancers, executed in black-figure with some added red, are represented in profile, moving to the right. They have very large hands, held out to the front or close to the buttocks at the back. Details of the padded costume are indicated. Between the dancers are cursorily executed rosettes and circular dots. Around the base are additional concentric circles. The decoration is somewhat worn.


Commentary

Publication History

  • Alex Seeberg, The Wellcome Painter and his Companions (Copenhagen, 1964), 35.1, pp. 29-50, p. 40-41
  • John Crawford, Sidney Goldstein, George M. A. Hanfmann, John Kroll, Judith Lerner, Miranda Marvin, Charlotte Moore, and Duane Roller, Objects of Ancient Daily Life. A Catalogue of the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection Belonging to the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, ed. Jane Waldbaum, Department of the Classics (unpublished manuscript, 1970), P12, p. 58-59 [M. C. Marvin]

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu