Archaic I

Bichrome Merchant Ship Model

Elaborately detailed terracotta model of merchant ship in Bichrome-style ware; hand-made with many applied details; large heavy hull with a rounded bottom with a highly detailed, raised poop-deck; large vertical shafts on each side of the poop-deck may be for oars for steering (an iron example of which was found in the original excavation, now lost); cross-beads span the hull, the central example of which frames a mast-socket; perforations along the length of the hull may have been drainage holes for an intermediary deck, or else oar holes; made of coarse red-brown clay, decorated black, red and (originally) yellow clay, much of which has faded since excavation; lines of black dots on the cross beams; parts of the model are damaged and cracked, and some of the original details seem to have disappeared, perhaps made of perishable materials. Dimensions: Height: 7 centimetres max. amidship ; Height: 3.50 centimetres stern above gunwale ; Length: 31 centimetres; Width: 9 centimetres max. amidship ; Depth: 10.50 centimetres Object Type: ship; model Ware: Bichrome Ware Techniques: handmade; painted; perforated