Bowdoin College Homepage
Bowdoin College Museum of Art Logo and Wordmark

Advanced Search
Preview image of work. terracotta,  Bail-Handle Olpe Depicting a Funeral Scene 9432
IIIF Logo
1984.23

Recommend keywords

Help us make our collections more accessible by providing keywords to describe this artwork. The BCMA uses the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus to provide consistent keywords. Enter a keyword in the field below and you will be prompted with a list of possible matching AAT preferred terms.

 
 

Bail-Handle Olpe Depicting a Funeral Scene

Export record as: Plain text | JSON | CDWA-Lite | VRA Core 4

Artist

Sappho Painter

Title

Bail-Handle Olpe Depicting a Funeral Scene

Creation Date

500 BCE-475 BCE

Century

5th century BCE

Dimensions

14 5/8 in. x 5 1/2 in. x 4 1/2 in. (37.15 cm x 13.97 cm x 11.43 cm)

Object Type

ceramic

Creation Place

Ancient Mediterranean, Greece

Medium and Support

terracotta

Credit Line

Museum Purchase, Adela Wood Smith Trust, in memory of Harry de Forest Smith, Class of 1891

Copyright

Public Domain

Accession Number

1984.23

Oinochoai were single-handled jugs used for pouring liquid such as wine (oinos in Greek is wine). The Bowdoin example, with its slender proportions and continuous curve from rim to foot, is a type of oinochoe often called an olpe. The rope-like handle would not have permitted pouring; rather the vase was designed specifically to be carried in the funeral. The jug is attributed to the Sappho Painter, who decorated the vase using the black-figure technique, in which illustrations are etched onto the vase using a slip which turns black when fired, causing the figures to appear in black silhouette. The scene on this oinochoe illustrates a rare glimpse of the Greek funeral and unfolds, uninterrupted, around the body of the vase. Central is a virtually unique view of a dead male being placed into a coffin in preparation for the ekphora, or procession to the tomb. This laying out of the body was called the prothesis and, in Athens of this period, lasted for two days. In the early hours before dawn of the third day the body would be conveyed to the cemetery for burial. The central scene on the Bowdoin oinochoe includes details that recall this tradition. Lamps are suspended from the ceiling providing light to the mourners gathered for this ritual, who are depicted in various activities that anticipate the procession. They are young and old, male and female, and together provide a rare glimpse of the Greek family engaged in one of their most solemn tasks.

Additional Media

Additional Image side detail
side detail
Additional Image side detail
side detail
Additional Image side detail
side detail
Additional Image side detail
side detail
Additional Image side detail
side detail
Additional Image side detail
side detail
Additional Image side detail
side detail
Additional Image side detail
side detail


Keywords: antiquity   ceremonial object   death   figurative   funeral   Greek   man   pattern   vase   vessel   woman