Amphora (Storage Jar)

Description

This vase has a distinctive shape characterized by an elongated ovoid body on a thick disk foot, an offset flaring neck, an inverted lip with grooves for a lid, and handles that rise from the shoulder and curve below the height of the mouth to join the neck. The type is called a Nolan amphora, after Nola, Italy, the site where the first examples of this shape were discovered and where this example was also found. It probably contained wine, olives, or oil. Nolan amphorae are small, usually less than fifteen inches high. Figures are drawn between the handles on the front and back. Below, a length of meander pattern provides a ground line.

Provenance

Alphonse van Branteghem, Brussels; sold, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 30-June 1, 1892, lot 86, to Martin A. Ryerson, Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.

Amphora (Storage Jar)

Ancient Greek

455-445 BCE

Accession Number

84553

Medium

terracotta, red-figure

Dimensions

33.3 × 17 × 16.8 cm (13 1/8 × 6 3/4 × 6 5/8 in.)

Classification

vessel

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Martin A. Ryerson