Leseprobe

21 Neck-handle amphora Attic, last quarter of the 8th cent. BCE, Workshop of the Hooked Swastika Clay; height 57 cm, Ø 31.5 cm Acquired from Wolfgang Job, Laurion, in 1900 Inv. no. ZV 1820 In analogy to the human figure, the parts of a Greek vase are named after body parts. Described accordingly, this late Geometric amphora stands on a sturdy circular foot, has a slender (and slightly contorted) belly, and a slim, upright neck that leads into a bulging lip. The handles are located above the shoulders on either side of the neck – from which this type of vessel takes its name (amphora means ‘carried on both sides’). The vessel’s well-proportioned body is decorated with circumferential lines and patterns in a style typical of the early phase of Greek vase-painting (11th to 8th century BCE). Known as Geometric art, this style de- rives its name from the shapes (lines, circles, triangles, and rectangles) painted onto the vases either freehand or with the aid of implements. Scholars are able to attribute works to certain master potters and their workshops by analysing the style and frequency of certain ornaments. This amphora bears the hallmarks of the Workshop of the Hooked Swastikas: crosses formed of arms and legs bent at right angles, which are interspersed with crosshatched chains of rhombuses to form the frieze around the vessel’s full circumference. The two decorative fields on the vessel’s neck feature figural representations: two horses tied to a tripod, beneath them two birds facing one another. The Greeks mainly used amphoras in everyday life as containers for storing and transporting cereals, olive oil, and wine. By contrast, the majority of early vessels found in funerary contexts appear to have served primarily as grave goods for the afterlife.  |  sw