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Campanian fish plate
Related to: D'Agostino Painter
Greek, South Italian
Late Classical Period
about 350–325 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Italy, Campania
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Red Figure
Dimensions
Height: 5.5cm (2 3/16 in.)
Diameter: 22.5cm (8 7/8in.)
Diameter: 22.5cm (8 7/8in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number01.8096
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
The decoration of ancient painted pottery often took cues from the function of the object. This flat, footed platter slopes downward from the rim to a depression in the center-used to hold sauce-and depicts the very delicacies it would have carried to the table; the fish design would have been revealed as each morsel was lifted and consumed, acting as a tantalizing reminder of a tasty feast.
Fish plates were first made in the early fourth century B.C. and were popular in both Greece and southern Italy. This platter, painted by an artist from the southern Italian region of Campania, features three marine creatures: an octopus, a bream, and a striped perch. In typical Italic fashion, the creatures' bellies are oriented toward the center of the plate. The artist has carefully observed the shapes, gills, and markings of the animals, even applying a dilute glaze to imitate the effect of seeing them through water. This attention to detail indicates a studied familiarity and fascination with the marine animals that probably predominated in the ancient Campanian diet.
Fish plates were first made in the early fourth century B.C. and were popular in both Greece and southern Italy. This platter, painted by an artist from the southern Italian region of Campania, features three marine creatures: an octopus, a bream, and a striped perch. In typical Italic fashion, the creatures' bellies are oriented toward the center of the plate. The artist has carefully observed the shapes, gills, and markings of the animals, even applying a dilute glaze to imitate the effect of seeing them through water. This attention to detail indicates a studied familiarity and fascination with the marine animals that probably predominated in the ancient Campanian diet.
Catalogue Raisonné
Vase-Painting in Italy (MFA), no. 088; Highlights: Classical Art (MFA), p. 156.
Description"Fish" plate. Has a flange falling from edge of base. Interior: Two fish and an octopus.
Circling the central depression are a bream, a striped perch, and an ocopus. A band of black dots cirlces the upper rim; around the overhanging rim is an ivy vine. As usual on Campanian fish-plates, the central depression is black and circled by a broad reserved stripe. The fish are carefully drawn, with much attention given to details such as the mouth, gills, mottling of the head and belly and placement of the stripes. Dilute glaze was used extensively on all three creatures particularly to define the eight arms of the octopus. The sketchy quality of the dilute glaze may have been achieved by feathering it with a dry brush.
VASE PAINTING in ITALY, #88 (01.8096)
Fish-Plate
Related to the D"Agostino Painter
3rd quarter of 4th century B.C.
Circling the central depression are a bream, a striped perch, and an octopus. A band of black dots circles the upper rim, around the overhanging rim is an ivy vine. As usual on Campanian fish-plates, the central depression is black and circled by a broad reserved stripe. The foot is reserved. The fish are carefully drawn, with much attention given to details such as the mouths, gills, mottling of the head and belly, and placement of the stripes. Dilute glaze was used extensively on all three creatures, particularly to define the eight arms of the octopus. The sketch quality of the dilute glaze may have been achieved by feathering it with a dry brush. McPhee and Grendall draw attention to the unusual use of black for the gills and fins, instead of the more normal white; they note also an affinity with early Paestan fish-plates, particularly in the drawing of the octopus and the use of a dotted outer border.
Circling the central depression are a bream, a striped perch, and an ocopus. A band of black dots cirlces the upper rim; around the overhanging rim is an ivy vine. As usual on Campanian fish-plates, the central depression is black and circled by a broad reserved stripe. The fish are carefully drawn, with much attention given to details such as the mouth, gills, mottling of the head and belly and placement of the stripes. Dilute glaze was used extensively on all three creatures particularly to define the eight arms of the octopus. The sketchy quality of the dilute glaze may have been achieved by feathering it with a dry brush.
VASE PAINTING in ITALY, #88 (01.8096)
Fish-Plate
Related to the D"Agostino Painter
3rd quarter of 4th century B.C.
Circling the central depression are a bream, a striped perch, and an octopus. A band of black dots circles the upper rim, around the overhanging rim is an ivy vine. As usual on Campanian fish-plates, the central depression is black and circled by a broad reserved stripe. The foot is reserved. The fish are carefully drawn, with much attention given to details such as the mouths, gills, mottling of the head and belly, and placement of the stripes. Dilute glaze was used extensively on all three creatures, particularly to define the eight arms of the octopus. The sketch quality of the dilute glaze may have been achieved by feathering it with a dry brush. McPhee and Grendall draw attention to the unusual use of black for the gills and fins, instead of the more normal white; they note also an affinity with early Paestan fish-plates, particularly in the drawing of the octopus and the use of a dotted outer border.
ProvenanceBy 1901: with E. P. Warren (according to Warren's records: Bought in Naples, said (& truly) to have been found at S. Maria di Capua); purchased by MFA from E. P. Warren, December 1901