Archaic I

Terracotta jug

Two figures and two birds flanking a lotus composition Closely related to 74.51.510, this vase depicts two human figures and two birds flanking a central lotus composition that is the equivalent of a sacred tree. The figures wear long garments, trousers, and shoes; their sex is not readily identifiable. Each looks toward the bird behind him, one bending forward, the other upright. The representation may pertain to an Oriental deity that has power over animals. 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) Other: 7 1/8 in. (18.1 cm) Diam. of foot: 2 9/16 in. (6.5 cm)

Date

750 - 600 BC

Accession No.

74.51.509

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

“Found at Golgoi (?) or Citium” (Cesnola 1894, pl. CVI, 859, 860) Between 1870 and 1874, found on Cyprus; until 1874, collection of Luigi Palma di Cesnola; acquired in 1874, purchased from L.P. di Cesnola.

References

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1894. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 2. Pl. CVI. 859, 860, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 751, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 157, pp. 96-97, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Lightfoot, Christopher S. 2000. "The New Cypriot Galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Minerva, 11(3): pp. 22-3, fig. 21.Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 278, pp. 239, 461, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.