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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1960.340
People
The Painter of the Yale Oinochoe, Greek
Title
Hydria-Kalpis (water jar): Women and Herons
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
465-455 BCE
Places
Find Spot: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Vari (Attica)
Period
Classical period, Early
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/290826

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta
Technique
Red-figure
Dimensions
35.5 x 29.2 cm (14 x 11 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Parallels: Herons were apparently popular household pets in Athens. They were sacred to Aphrodite and their behavior was considered a clue to changes in the weather; see J.D. Beazley, The Lews House Collection of Gems (Oxford 1920) Women and herons appear on two other kalpides by the painter of the Yale Oinochoe: a vase in London 83.11-24.26, ARV 503 23 and a vase in Houston, 80.95 (P.J. Holliday, Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts winter 1984)The women on the Houston vase wear their hair in the same way as those on the Harvard kalpis, with the queues secured in small cloth bags. For other examples of women and herons see Chicoago Art Inst. 16.140, ARV 258, 18; Copenhagen 4997, ARV 1214,4; Copenhagen 7359, CVA Copenhagen 4; Louvre G 544, Louvre 8 pl. 44, 5.
The shape and subsidiary ornament of this kalpis are characteristic of the Painter of the Yale Oinochoe, a pot-specialist who painted at least seven hydriae, but also and ornament of kalpis London E 178, with the Judgment of Paris, ARV 503, 20.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Beazley Archive Database #205650

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of David M. Robinson
Accession Year
1960
Object Number
1960.340
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Fogg Art Museum, The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities, A Special Exhibition, exh. cat., Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, 1961), p. 17, no. 99
  • J. D. Beazley, Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters, The Clarendon Press (Oxford, England, 1963), p. 503 no. 22
  • Frank J. Frost, Greek Society, D. C. Heath and Co. (1980)
  • Louise Calder, Cruelty and Sentimentality: Greek Attitudes to Animals, 600-300 BC, Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. (Oxford, 2011), pp. 91-92, 194, no. 267

Exhibition History

  • The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities: A Special Exhibition, Fogg Art Museum, 05/01/1961 - 09/20/1961

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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