/internal/media/dispatcher/1051965/resize%25253Aformat%25253DthumbnailBall depicting palaistra scenesabout 500 B.C.Overall: 4 x 5.2 cm (1 9/16 x 2 1/16 in.)Ceramic, Black FigureHelen and Alice Colburn Fund63.1191Ball, pierced for suspension depicting palaistra scenes. Scenes painted in the frieze depict the palaistra: Man offering flower to boy, accompanied by a dog. There are also two discus-throwers, and two javelin throwers. Bottom incision encircles an incised palmette.'Yeah' (NAI XI) painted in the field with the figures and incised on the bottom.
The painted inscription reads, "I belong to Myrrhine, indeed I do!". Incised inscriptions at top and bottom again call Myrrhine the owner, but the top one adds, "The boy is handsome". Inscripton incised on top of the ball: "That boy is beautiful, that is how he looks as he comes from the [games at the] funeral mounds [eria]" (HO PAIS KALOS HOS EOIKEN APO TON ERION EN) .
This vase is apparently a miniature copy of a child's ball. A pebble was placed inside the hollow sphere so that it rattles when shaken. The two holes at top and bottom probably served to suspend the ball from a string.Vessels4.000000000015357801