click on the image for the pot, or here for details

2006.17.T, Mycenaean Squat Jar LHI (1550-1500) Height: 5.5 cm. Width: 7.7 cm. Transferred from the University of Colorado Musuem of Natural History to the CU Art Museum, University of Colorado (2006).

This small, two-handled jar dates from the Late Helladic period, also known as the Mycenaean period, which lasted from about 1550 to 1500 BCE (1). The simple decoration consists of 6 rows of blackish-brown dots on the upper part of the vase with three concentric bands beneath; neither the dots nor the bands have been painted particularly carefully. The handles and neck are solid brownish-black, and the solid dark paint continues partially onto the shoulder of the vessel. The paint has worn and chipped away 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.

The "squat jar" shape, typical of Late Helladic pottery, is an early form of the taller and thinner alabastron, a shape that originated in Egypt (2). The alabastron was used for bathing oil, perfumed or otherwise, and was a common tomb offering; it is often associated with women (3). Since this type of vessel was commonly used in burials, many have survived in good condition and it is likely that our example was found in the context of a burial. With its small size and resemblance to later oil vessels such as aryballoi, it is likely that this squat jar served as a container for ointment or oil. The tiny handles would have allowed a rope or cord to pass through, suspending the vessel from the wrist or a stationary object thus making it portable and keeping its contents within reach. Perhaps the mouth was sealed with a lid or cork of some type to keep the contents from spilling. Another possible use of a small vase such as this may have been to pour libations for the deceased.

The "stipple" pattern on the upper part of the vessel 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 a lowly clay pot resemble a vessel in a more expensive or exotic material. Such imitation of costly materials will continue throughout Greek art (an earlier example of this phenomenon is Vasilike Ware), a Minoan pottery type from the EMII period made to resemble stone).

Author: Summer Trentin

(1). Hara Tzavella-Evjen, "Greek and Roman Vases and Statuettes from the University of Colorado Collection ," Deltion 28 (1973) Athens 1975, pp. 192-197. Dates from John G. Pedley, Greek Art and Archaeology (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall 1993): 29.

(2). Arne Furumark, The Mycenaean Pottery , 3 vols. ( Stockholm 1941): 1, 39.

(3). For a full description of the alabastron shape, see Andrew J. Clark, Maya Elston and Mary-Loise Hart, Understanding Greek Vases: A Guide to Terms. Styles, and Techniques ( Los Angeles : The 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.

(4). Furumark, The Mycenaean Pottery vol. 1, 422.

(5). Furumark, The Mycenaean Pottery vol. 1, 423.

Comparanda as cited by Tzavella-Evjen, "Greek and Roman Vases and Statuettes," 192:

Furumark, The Mycenaean Pottery , p. 41, fig. 11 (80); p. 422, Fig. 73.