1920.44.54: Alabastron (oil flask): Working Wool, Dionysos with Satyr and Maenad (upper); Gigantomachy (lower)
Vessels
This object does not yet have a description.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1920.44.54
- People
-
The Haimon Group, Greek
- Title
- Alabastron (oil flask): Working Wool, Dionysos with Satyr and Maenad (upper); Gigantomachy (lower)
- Classification
- Vessels
- Work Type
- vessel
- Date
- c. 480 BCE
- Period
- Archaic period
- Culture
- Greek
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/292923
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Terracotta
- Technique
- Black-figure
- Dimensions
- 14.9 cm (5 7/8 in.)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
-
Miss Elizabeth Gaskell Norton, Boston, MA and Miss Margaret Norton, Cambridge, MA (by 1920), gift; to the Fogg Museum, 1920.
Note: The Misses Norton were daughters of Charles Elliot Norton (1827-1908).
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Misses Norton
- Accession Year
- 1920
- Object Number
- 1920.44.54
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
-
White-ground alabastron decorated in the black-figure technique. Two figure zones, both on a white slip, and two ornamental bands on red. The bottom of the
The upper figural zone depicts a scene of woolworking: The woman on the left sits on a short stool and faces a basket. She holds a distaff. Flanking the basket is a second seated woman spinning thread. To the right of the standing female is a bearded Dionysos facing right towards a short stool. He wears a long himation and wreath and holds a kantharos in his left hand and Opposite the god is a maenad, who flees to the right and holds a thyrsos. Behind the maenad, a dancing satyr lunges forward and grasps a thyrsus in his left hand. A series of twisted branches occupy the background on both sides. In the lower figural frieze is a gigantomachy--the mythological battle between the gods and giants. Herakles and the goddess Athena battle five giants, represented with hoplite shields and helmets.
A broad band of checkerboard tops the upper figural frieze, and a band of repeating palmettes divides the two figural zones.
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