Caption

Jug, red-figure pottery, Greek, mermaid mythological, Athens, 3rd quarter of the 5th century BC, Attica; vessel, height 6.6 cm. A small jug with a low foot recessed at the bottom. The edges of the foot are slightly rounded and tapered upwards. The body is slightly wider than the foot, rounded at the bottom, almost cylindrical in the lower half, and gently tapering in the upper half, merging into a widely flared outward spout. Below the spout is a vertically mounted, cylindrical, slightly flattened handle, bent into a circle. Light orange clay with black, shiny slip. On the body, the mermaid is in right profile, with wings raised upwards the left wing at the back, protruding above the right. On the mermaid's head is a diadem marked with white dots. Feathers are marked with lines—long and thin at the wingtips and tail; thin and thick elsewhere. The image is emphasized from the bottom with a row of dots. The side of the foot is chipped, the rim edge is slightly chipped, and the slip shows abrasion loss. Part of the rim is filled with plaster., A dark-colored ceramic vessel with a flared rim and rounded body sits against a neutral gray background; the vessel is primarily black with areas of orange-painted imagery showing a winged creature with a humanlike head and a rounded tail, and there are small orange decorative dots along the lower body; the rim and base show worn spots revealing lighter brown and beige tones, and the overall surface has blemishes and scratches.

Credit line

Photo12/Liszt Collection

Reference

LZT26A05_464

License type

Rights managed

Available size

19.7Mb (389.2Kb) / 8.7in x 8.8in / 2615 x 2629 (300dpi)

Keywords

Jug red-figure pottery Greek mermaid mythological Athens 3rd quarter 5th century BC Attica vessel height 6.6 cm small jug low foot recessed bottom edges slightly rounded tapered upwards body slightly wider rounded almost cylindrical lower half gently tapering upper half merging widely flared outward spout spout vertically mounted cylindrical slightly flattened handle bent circle Light orange clay black shiny slip mermaid right profile wings raised upwards left wing back protruding right mermaid's head diadem marked white dots Feathers marked lines long thin wingtips tail thick elsewhere image emphasized row dots side chipped rim edge slightly chipped slip abrasion loss Part rim filled plaster dark-colored ceramic vessel flared rim rounded body sits neutral gray background primarily black areas orange-painted imagery showing winged creature humanlike head rounded tail small orange decorative dots lower body base worn spots revealing lighter brown beige tones surface blemishes scratches.