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Oil flask (aryballos) in the form of a bust of Medusa
Greek, East Greek
Archaic Period
600–570 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Rhodes
Medium/Technique
Ceramic
Dimensions
Height: 7 cm (2 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number99.510
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
Catalogue Raisonné
Fairbanks, Vases (MFA), no. 498.
DescriptionThis aryballos takes the form of a monstrous gorgon. The gorgon’s hair falls around her shoulders, painted dark red against the pale orange of her skin. Snakes rendered in relief slither around her face. The monster displays her fangs and tongue with a wide grimace. Her large eyes, rendered in relief and further emphasized by added paint, insist on eye contact. The mouth of the vessel emerges from the top of the gorgon’s head. A small handle on the back of the vessel could have once held a string from which the vase could be hung.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: W. H. Forman Collection; inherited from him by Mrs. Burt and then, about 1889, by A. H. Browne; by 1899: with Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 13 Wellington Street, Strand, London W.C., England, auction of the Forman Collection, June 19-22, lot 273; by 1899: with E. P. Warren; purchased by MFA from E. P. Warren, 1899, for $ 32,500.00 (this is the total price for MFA 99.338-99.542)