Stout black and terracotta bowl with two handles, decorated with floral motifs wrapped around the cup’s mouth as well as illustrations of humans, cherubs, and satyrs gesturing towards one another.
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Pothos Painter

Mixing Bowl (Krater)

Maker

Pothos Painter (Greek, 420-390 BCE)

Culture

Greek

Title

Mixing Bowl (Krater)

Period

Classical

Year

420 BCE

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

clay

Geography

Place Made: Attica

Dimensions

Height: 32 cm (12 5/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Over Silen's head - KOMOS. Over Maenad's head THALIA, at her right KALOS. Over head of winged boy POTHOS, over head of second Maenad EUDIA. Over head of bearded silen OINOS.

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

23.324

Type

Exhibition History

Being and Believing in the Natural World
Perspectives from the Ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and Indigenous North America
Oct 22, 2022 – Jun 04, 2023

Label copy

The large central vessel, used for mixing water with wine, is decorated with companions of the wine god, Dionysus. Maenads were women who roamed the forests, singing and dancing in a happy frenzy. Fertility spirits of the countryside, satyrs were depicted as men with donkey ears and horse tails.

Dionysus was worshipped as a bull in the Greek colonies of southern Italy, where the cup at right was made. The larger cup refers to Dionysus as god of wine and theater. In use, it becomes a mask: Dionysus’s large eyes become the drinker’s, the handles morph into ears, and the base turns into an open mouth. Inside is Medusa, a monster capable of turning people to stone, perhaps warning against overindulgence.

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Pothos Painter (Greek, 420-390 BCE)
Mixing Bowl (Krater), 420 BCE
Terracotta; red-figure
Height: 32 cm (12 5/8 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 23.324

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