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Askos with the monster Skylla
Greek, South Italian
Early Hellenistic Period
about 300 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Italy, Apulia, Canusium (Canosa)
Medium/Technique
Ceramic
Dimensions
Height x depth: 38 x 30.3 cm (14 15/16 x 11 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number99.541
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
Catalogue Raisonné
Vase-Painting in Italy (MFA), no. 149.
DescriptionA modeled figure of Skylla stretches along the top, her long, undulating body painted with black and red spots on a blue-streaked white ground. Two spotted dogs spring from her waist on either side of the vessel's mouth, which she holds in her hands. Skylla has red hair and a tunic with pink stripes and yellow rosettes. On the rim of the mouth by Skylla's left hand, is a modeled fish painted blue; by her right hand is a blue phiale with a small cake inside. The mouth is red on the inside and pink and white on the outside. On the front of the vase is a large frontal face, female, with big eyes and thick red lips. The face is outlined in red but is left reserved in the white on the outside. Small flowers grow from the top of the face, and there is a round disk at the apex. On either side of the body is painted a large griffin rearing over a leaping dolphin.
Though badly damaged, both griffins were apparently outlined in black, with peach-colored bodies and blue wings. Traces of the same peach color are preserved on the dolphins, now white. Between the griffins and the face on the front are large white palmettes topped with rosettes; a brown palmette covers the rear of the vase. The background between the face, the griffins, and the palmettes is lavender. The dolphins are surrounded by black. The shoulder and lower body of the vase are painted red.
Though badly damaged, both griffins were apparently outlined in black, with peach-colored bodies and blue wings. Traces of the same peach color are preserved on the dolphins, now white. Between the griffins and the face on the front are large white palmettes topped with rosettes; a brown palmette covers the rear of the vase. The background between the face, the griffins, and the palmettes is lavender. The dolphins are surrounded by black. The shoulder and lower body of the vase are painted red.
ProvenanceBy 1899: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: Bought in Naples. Said to be and no doubt from Canosa.); purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, 1899, for $ 32,500.00 (this is the total price for MFA 99.338-99.542)