Archaic I

Silver bowl

The particularly dense decoration consists of a tondo surrounded by four friezes. In the center, the Egyptian goddess Isis suckles her son Horus amid papyrus plants. The innermost frieze shows a shepherd, a horse, a cow and calf. The next frieze presents six banqueters attended by men and women. The third zone combines banqueters with tribute bearers. The outermost zone depicts figures in carts departing from a citadel to a palm grove and going back. The carts are particularly reminiscent of the terracotta models. The Isis motif and the fortifications derive from Egyptian and Assyrian sources. H. 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm) diameter 6 in. (15.3 cm)

Date

675 - 625 BC

Accession No.

74.51.4555

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

References

Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 4555, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Childs, William A.P. 1978. The City-reliefs of Lycia. pp. 56-7, fig. 26, Princeton: Princeton University Press.Sophocleous, Sophocles. 1985. ""Atlas des représentations chypro-archaiques des divinités." Master's Diss.." Master's Diss. no. 2, p. 176. Paul Aströms Förlag.Matthäus, Hartmut. 1985. Metallgefässe und Gefässuntersätze der Bronzezeit, der geometrischen und archaischen Periode auf Cypern: mit einem Anhang der bronzezeitlichen Schwertfunde auf Cypern, Prähistorische Bronzefunde, Abteilung II Bd. 8. cat. 425, pp. 162-3, 376, pl. 35, 425, München: Beck.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 298, pp. 181-2, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Markoe, Glenn. 2008. "Phoenician Decorated Bowls: The Art of Diplomatic Exchange." Minerva, 19(1): p. 31, fig. 7.