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Drinking cup (kylix) with Herakles and the Cretan Bull
Greek
Archaic Period
6th century B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Laconia
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Black Figure
Dimensions
Height x width: 11.8 x 25.3 cm (4 5/8 x 9 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Peter and Mary Lee Aldrich
Accession Number1995.841
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
DescriptionKylix with scene of hero (probably Herakles rather than Theseus) fighting a large bull in the central tondo.
Above, is a woman, who has a large wing emerging from the right side of her chest and small wings emerging from her calves and who wears a fringed skirt. a conical cap and a headdress of a palmette on a stem flanked by two lotus buds on vine stalks. She runs through the air to the right toward a bird flying to left. At left, remains of another bird. Below, lotus and palmette vine scroll. Exterior: palmettes beside handles,
rows of rays, tongues and buds.
The winged daemon has been interpreted as "mere filling device" (Pipili). She could also be a nature daemon or a Nike.
Above, is a woman, who has a large wing emerging from the right side of her chest and small wings emerging from her calves and who wears a fringed skirt. a conical cap and a headdress of a palmette on a stem flanked by two lotus buds on vine stalks. She runs through the air to the right toward a bird flying to left. At left, remains of another bird. Below, lotus and palmette vine scroll. Exterior: palmettes beside handles,
rows of rays, tongues and buds.
The winged daemon has been interpreted as "mere filling device" (Pipili). She could also be a nature daemon or a Nike.
Provenance1993, sold by Merrin Gallery, New York, to Peter and Mary Lee Aldrich, Rhode Island; 1995, partial gift of Peter and Mary Lee Aldrich to the MFA; 1998, accessioned fully with the gift of Peter and Mary Lee Aldrich to the MFA. (Accession Dates: December 29, 1995 and December 31, 1998)