1999.282: Large Stirrup Jar

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1999.282

Title

Large Stirrup Jar

Classification

Vessels

Work Type

vessel

Date

c. 1320 BCE-1190 BCE

Places

Creation Place: Europe, Greece

Period

Helladic period, Late Helladic IIIB

Culture

Mycenaean

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/191904

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Terracotta

Technique

Wheel-made

Dimensions

c. 22 x 25.5 cm (8 11/16 x 10 1/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Lundhal Collection, Antwerp, Belgium (1930s). [Royal-Athena Galleries, New York (by 1998)], sold; to the Harvard University Art Museums.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Purchase through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Ladd, Dr. Sol S. Rabin, Dr. and Mrs. Richard Lennihan, Jr., Mrs. Winifred Parker and the David M. Robinson Fund

Accession Year

1999

Object Number

1999.282

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description

Large ovoid stirrup jar. Broad ring base. Rounded body with maximum diameter above center. Broad shoulder with narrow, tubular spout and slightly flaring rim, positioned vertically. False spout behind it, at top of jar, is of the same height and terminates in a broadly flaring, slightly concave disc. Short, broad strap handles are attached to the rim of the false spout and the upper shoulder of the jar.

Pale buff material decorated with a burnt umber slip. Slip variously solid and streaky in application. Glossy surface. Exterior of ring base slipped. Above this are three narrow bands of decoration on the body and lower shoulder of the vessel. The lowermost of these is a banded zone consisting of two thin lines flanked by a thick band above and below. The middle zone contains a triglyph-style frieze with rectangular spaces filled with billowy lines alternating with largely blank spaces bordered along the top edge by small pendant loops. Another banded zone is contained above this, at mid-shoulder level, with several thin lines again flanked by the thicker ones. Marine mollusc shells, stippled in rows and seen in profile, decorate the jar's shoulder. Disc surface of false spout decorated with a spiral. Handles are entirely orange-slipped, save for a reserved triangle at their junction with the rim of the false spout. A figure-eight shaped band runs around the bases of the spout and false spout.

Vessel has been reassembled from many fragments. Infilling of gaps during treatment by conservation department in 1999.

Commentary

Re-View Exhibition, Spring 2008, gallery label information:

Stirrup Jar
Mycenaean, Late Helladic IIIB, 1300-1200 BCE
Terracotta
Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Purchase through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Ladd, Dr. Sol S. Rabin, Dr. and Mrs. Richard Lennihan, Jr., Dr. Winifred Parker, and the David M. Robinson Fund, 1999.282

Common in the Late Bronze Age in both Crete and mainland Greece, stirrup jars-with a false mouth and double handles that resemble a stirrup-were used for the storage and transport of liquids such as oil. The shoulder of this example is decorated with stylized sea snails.

Exhibition History

• Re-View: S422 Ancient & Byzantine Art & Numismatics, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/12/2008 - 06/18/2011
• 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/2021 - 01/02/2022

Verification Level