offerings

Ancient Greek Offerings

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 15:15:00 +0000

Ancient Greek Offerings Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/05/2018 - 09:15

A number of objects in the CU Art Museum's collection have been identified as potential offerings based on their form or appearance. A general lack of provenance for the objects, however, prevents us from making definite declarations about their function. Objects identified as offerings are typically found in sacred areas such as temples as offerings to deities or in burials as offerings to the dead. The Bronze Age pyxis, or lidded box, is an example of a common burial find. Such vessels were used to hold cosmetics, jewelry, or small objects and may have kept these items safe for their owner in the grave.

Terracotta figurines are often found in religious sanctuaries, tombs, and household shrines and, in such cases, are usually identified as offerings. Ancient Greeks started making small, fired clay figurines in the shape of humans and animals as early as the Neolithic Period (6,000-3,000 B.C.E.). In the Greek and Roman periods (ca. 800 B.C.E.-400 C.E.), artisans would produce terracotta figurines in the form of local gods and goddesses for the purpose of selling them to pilgrims to use as dedications in the city's sanctuaries. Typically, terracotta figurines did not leave the city in which they were produced and they are therefore different from other archaeological materials, such as coins and pottery, which traveled widely via trade, commerce, and colonization.

A figurine of a harpy, a hybrid creature with the body and wings of a bird with a woman's torso and head, resembles depictions of sirens that often decorated tripod cauldrons. Tripod cauldrons were frequently dedicated at religious sanctuaries, especially in the Geometric and Orientalizing periods (c. 900 to 650 B.C.E.).

Three female terracotta figurines in the collection all seem to represent goddesses. The 6th century B.C.E. East Greek figurine (pictured here) was made in a mold and holds an object that may be a dove. The dove is a bird sacred to the goddess Aphrodite and this figurine may therefore represent Aphrodite herself or a woman bringing an offering to the goddess. The other two female terracotta figurines in the collection were made by hand. Each wears a polos, a type of headdress that is usually worn by goddesses, particularly those relating to fertility. The mid-6th century B.C.E. Boeotian figurine has a rather curly version of the polos! The other, a 6th century B.C.E. Laconian figurine, has disks at her breast which may represent a necklace with pendants. Objects such as these were used as votive offerings to deities; the dedicators hoped to incur favor with the gods by bringing them gifts.

Finally, a mid-6th century B.C.E. horse and rider figurine may have been a child's toy. Horses were popular subjects in Greek art. Both the animals themselves and their maintenance were costly and therefore ownership of horses was an indication of considerable wealth. Although this figurine is simplified, the subject is immediately recognizable; the artist has managed to capture the spirit of the horse and rider through very basic shapes and patterns. The lines on the horse's body do not reflect any real pattern on the horse, but instead add a sense of movement and interest to the figure. This figurine may have been included in a child's grave.

Many objects, including not just figurines but also mundane and specialized vessels, can serve a variety of functions and can be identified as offerings only by their archaeological context, that is, where they were found. A vessel excavated from a tomb, for example, is usually identified as a burial offering, while one found in a sanctuary as a religious offering. The same vessel, however, can be found in domestic or refuse contexts, which changes their interpretation. Finally, an object could have served several purposes over its lifetime. Objects, then, are open to multiple interpretations and scholars often disagree about which one is correct.

This essay was written to accompany a collection of Greek artifacts at the CU Art Museum.

An informative essay about ancient Greek offerings in sanctuaries and tombs, with examples from CU's collection.

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Ancient Greek Tripod Cauldrons

Anonymous — Wed, 23 May 2018 18:38:53 +0000

Ancient Greek Tripod Cauldrons Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/23/2018 - 12:38 Crystal Rome and Debby Sneed

Tripod cauldrons were one of a type of bronze vessels produced and used in ancient Greece. These vessels had a variety of functions. They could be used for practical purposes, including warming and cooking food. They were often votive, dedicated to gods and goddesses at religious sanctuaries. Finally, they were trophies, presented to victors at theatrical and athletic events. There are two main styles of tripods, called Geometric or Orientalizing.

Geometric tripod cauldrons were developed in Greece during the Geometric period, which lasted from about 900 to 700 B.C.E. These vessels consisted of a large bowl with three attached legs that allowed the vessel to be stood over a fire. Orientalizing tripod cauldrons began to appear during the Orientalizing period, that is, from about 750 to 650 B.C.E. These consisted of a large bowl and a separate or detached stand with three legs on which the bowl would be set. This detached model was more functional, as the bowl could be moved while the stand remained in place (1). This new form grew in popularity and was used into and through the Roman period, although the older Geometric-style tripod cauldrons continued to be produced (2). Examples of both, however, are rare because they were usually made of bronze, which could be melted down and reused.

Geometric tripod cauldrons, such as an example from the site of Delphi, were made of beaten bronze and, as above, consisted of a bowl with three attached legs and large, upright, circular handles. Both legs and handles were attached to the bowl with rivets. Their form may be related to cauldrons from Minoan Crete and dating to as early as 1,600 B.C.E. (3). Smaller versions of these Geometric tripod cauldrons are thought to have had a domestic function, while larger and monumental versions may have been votive or symbolic. Eventually, these tripod cauldrons were used exclusively as votive offerings to gods and goddesses and large quantities of them have been found in religious sanctuaries like Olympia dating back to the Geometric period (4).

Orientalizing tripod cauldrons were also made of bronze, but their appearance was influenced by Near Eastern vessels. In the Orientalizing model, the cauldron's bronze bowl was separate from the bronze tripod stand. Often the bowl was decorated with griffin protomes and other projecting sculptural elements. Terracotta versions could be adorned with attachments, like the siren attachment in the CU Art Museum's collection. Examples of these tripod cauldrons have been found throughout Greece and the Near East and, importantly, on the island of Cyprus, which provided a crucial link in the trade between Greece and the Near East (6).

Footnotes

Athanasia Yalouris, Olympia: The Museum and the Sanctuary (Athens: Ekdotikē Athēnōn, 1993): 57.
Jean Charbonneaux, Greek Bronzes (New York: Viking Press, 1962): 58.
Charbonneaux, Greek Bronzes: 52-53.
Yalouris, Olympia: The Museum and the Sanctuary: 48-49.
Charbonneaux, Greek Bronzes: 54-57.
Vassos Karageorghis, The Ancient Civilization of Cyprus (New York: Cowles Education Corporation, 1969): 155.

An overview of the two main types of tripod cauldrons in ancient Greece.

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2006.18.T, Attic Red-Figure Lekythos

Anonymous — Fri, 11 May 2018 16:11:58 +0000

2006.18.T, Attic Red-Figure Lekythos Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/11/2018 - 10:11

Megan Aikman and Debby Sneed

Catalogue Entry

This vase is one of a collection of Greek vases held by the CU Art Museum.

Gift to CU Classics Department
Transferred to CU Museum of Natural History
Transferred to CU Art Museum (2006)

Height: 16.2 cm
Diameter (max.): 5.7 cm
Date: c. 425-350 B.C.E.
Origin: Athens (Greece)

Description: small red-figure lekythos with image of woman on one side of body. The woman is holding shallow dish (phiale) over a wool basket. Meander border at top of main scene on body. Shoulder of vessel decorated with parallel vertical black lines. Neck left undecorated. Lip and mouth of vessel, as well as single handle, covered in black slip.

Additional photos of this vessel show details of the mouth, rim, handle, decoration, and base.

Discussion

A lekythos is a vessel used to store oil used for religious or funerary purposes. This lekythos is the CU Art Museum's only example of a vase decorated in the red-figure technique. The vase is made of a light red clay, while the background of the vase, decorative elements, and details were added in a black slip. The single handle on this vase is decorated with black slip on its top, exposed surface and is left in the color of the clay on its underside. The lip and mouth of the jar are covered in black slip. Short, parallel vertical lines encircle the base of the neck, while another series of longer lines decorates the shoulder of the vessel. A single band of meander wraps around the top of the vessel's body above the figural panel. This same combination of decorative elements -- two rows of parallel vertical lines and a meander -- is seen, also, on a black-figure lekythos in the CU Art Museum's collection.

The body of this vessel features a single human figure, a woman, who stands and faces right. Her thick, black hair is tied into a bun at the back of her head, with her ear placed high on her head.

She looks forward with her lips parted, as if speaking. She wears a chiton and a himation, both of which have details such as folds and crinkles added in thick black lines and thinner, lighter lines. One arm is bent, with the hand resting on her hip; the other arm is extended and she holds in her hand a shallow bowl or phiale. A wool basket is on the ground in front of the woman, to the right and beneath the hand holding the phiale. No separate groundline is indicated, but the presence of one is suggested by the placement of the basket along the same line as the woman's bare feet. The base of the vessel tapers to a small foot. The exterior of the foot is decorated with two bands, one in the color of the clay on top and one in black slip below.

The woman on the vase is identified by her dress and hairstyle, as well as by the attributes of the phiale and the wool basket, as a housewife or an otherwise generic citizen woman. The phiale in her hand suggests that she is pious, while the wool basket demonstrates her dutiful and resourceful nature.

Women in ancient Greece were relatively constrained in their roles as citizens, non-citizen residents, or slaves. According to much modern scholarship, there was little overlap within the established class structures. Regardless of her status, however, women shared similar duties, the most important of which may have been wool working and weaving. A respectable woman, such as the one on this lekythos, would spend much of her day spinning wool, a task that contributed to the household economy in a variety of ways. Today, four spinners working on wheels create enough wool for one weaver to stay busy, which means that for every one textile created, it takes four times the work to create the yarn for that woven fabric. The spinning wheel, however, was not invented until the 16th century C.E. and it would have taken a Greek woman somewhat longer to spin the same amount of wool using a drop spindle.

Few examples of textiles from ancient Greece survive and much of our evidence for the industry comes from references in texts, as well as representations on vases, stelai, and wall paintings.

Comparanda

Marathon, Marathon Museum K331 (1)
- 475-425 B.C.E. red-figure lekythos
- Similar shape to foot and lip/shoulder tilt
- Similar decoration (i.e., meander technique and horizontal line) at shoulder and neck
- Similar style red-figure technique and execution
- Cracked at same point, suggesting similar clay grade and/or throwing technique (?)
Athens, National Archaeological Museum 17291 (2)
- 475-425 B.C.E. red-figure lekythos attributed to the Bowdoin Painter
- Similar shoulder, neck, and lip execution
- Similar use of groundline
Athens, National Archaeological Museum 17280 (3)
- 475-425 B.C.E. red-figure lekythos
- Similar shoulder, neck, and lip execution
- Similar curvature of foot

Footnotes

Corpus vasorum antiquorum: Greece Fasc. 7, Marathon Museum (Athens: Academy of Athens, 2001): 63-64, 82, Fig. 43, Pl. (402) 35.1-2.
Semni Karouzou, Corpus vasorum antiquorum, Greece, Fasc. 1, Athens National Museum (Paris: Librairie ancienne Honoré Champion, 1932): III.IC.9, Pl. (70) 12.1.
Semni Karouzou, Corpus vasorum antiquorum, Greece, Fasc. 1, Athens National Museum (Paris: Librairie ancienne Honoré Champion, 1932): III.IC.9, Pl. (70) 12.3-4.

References

John Boardman, Athenian Red-Figure Vases: the Archaic Period (London: Thames & Hudson, 1975): 216.
John Boardman, Athenian Red-Figure Vases: the Classical Period (London: Thames & Hudson, 1989).
Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, eds. The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003).
Chara Tzavella-Evjen, Greek and Roman Vases and Statuettes from the University of Colorado Collection (Athens: Archaiologikon Deltion, 1973): 192-197.

A late 5th or early 4th century B.C.E. red-figure lekythos from Athens.

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2006.17.T, Mycenaean Squat Jar

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 19:36:17 +0000

2006.17.T, Mycenaean Squat Jar Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/06/2018 - 13:36

Summer Trentin and Debby Sneed

Catalogue Entry

This vase is one of a collection of Greek vases held by the CU Art Museum.

Gift to CU Classics Department
Transferred to CU Museum of Natural History
Transferred to CU Art Museum (2006)

Height: 5.7 cm
Diameter (max.): 8.3 cm
Date: 14th century B.C.E.
Origin: Greece

Description: Small pot with rounded bottom, two handles on shoulder, flaring neck and protruding lip. Tan clay with brown slip decoration. Uneven circles ring the base and lower body. The upper body and shoulder are decorated with lines of dots. Handles are covered entirely in brown slip. Base of neck, neck, and inside of mouth covered in brown slip.

Additional photos of this vessel show details of the mouth, handles, and decoration.

Discussion

This small, two-handled jar dates to the Late Helladic I period, approximately 1,550-1,500 B.C.E. (1). The simple decoration consists of six rows of brown dots on the upper part of the body, with three concentric

circles beneath; neither the dots nor the bands have been painted particularly carefully. The slip is worn and chipped in many places and appears to have faded in some areas, as well; this fading may be the result of age and wear or a firing error.

This shape, typical of Late Helladic or Mycenaean pottery, is an early form of the taller and thinner alabastron. The alabastron, which originated in Egypt, can be seen in a 6th century B.C.E. example in the CU Art Museum's collection. Alabastra, which are sometimes associated with women, were used to hold bathing oil, perfumed or otherwise (3). Squat jars like this one are sometimes associated with women and are often found in burials; because they were often interred with the deceased, many have survived in relatively good condition. The small size and resemblace to these later vessels suggest its use as a container for ointment or oil. The small handles may have allowed rope or leather to be passed through, allowing it to be suspended from the wrist or another object, which made it portable and easily accessible. The mouth may have been sealed with some sort of lid or wax to keep the contents from spilling. Another possible use for such a small vase is to pour libations for the deceased during a funerary ritual.

The stippled pattern on the upper part of the vessels' body is a feature of pots from the Late Helladic period (4). It has been suggested that the spots may be meant to represent either stone or an ostrich egg (5), in both cases serving to make the simple clay resemble a more expensive or exotic material. Such imitation of costly materials continues throughout Greek art.

A similar but slightly later jar in the CU Art Museum's collection likely had a similar function.

Comparanda

Arne Furumark, The Mycenaean Pottery: Analysis and Classification (Stockholm: Victor Pettersons Bokindustriaktiebolag, 1941): 41, fig. 11 (80); 422, Fig. 73.

Footnotes

Chara Tzavella-Evjen, Greek and Roman Vases and Statuettes from the University of Colorado Collection (Athens: Archaiologikon Deltion, 1973): 192-197. Dates from John G. Pedley, Greek Art and Archaeology (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall 1993): 29.
Arne Furumark, The Mycenaean Pottery: Analysis and Classification (Stockholm: Victor Pettersons Bokindustriaktiebolag, 1941): 1, 39.
For a full description of the alabastron shape, see Andrew J. Clark, Maya Elston, and Mary Louise Hart eds., Understanding Greek Vases: A Guide to Terms, Styles, and Techniques (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2002): 65; see also Brian A. Sparkes, Greek Pottery: An Introduction (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1991): 80; Edward Lucie-Smith, The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms ( New York: Thames & Hudson, 2003), 12.
Furumark, The Mycenaean Pottery:1, 422.
Furumark, The Mycenaean Pottery: 1, 423.

Reference

Chara Tzavella-Evjen, Greek and Roman Vases and Statuettes from the University of Colorado Collection (Athens: Archaiologikon Deltion, 1973): 192-197.

A Late Helladic I squat jar.

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