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Center of a Calene bowl or cup
Greek, South Italian
Hellenistic Period
3rd or 2nd century B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Italy, Campania, Cales
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Calenian ware
Credit Line
Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1900
Accession Number03.866
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
DescriptionFrom the workshop of C. (Caius) Atilius at Cales north of Naples
Black-glazed ceramic with molded relief.
A warrior, bearded, nude and with crested helmet, pulls at a female by the hair; the female, nude except for legs, looks out; Cupid tugs at the warrior's right forearm. Inscription above the crest of warrior's helmet.
The figures may be identified as Ajax and Kassandra, the priestess who had foreseen that the wooden horse made by the Greeks should not be brought inside the walls of Troy, was spared death in the sanctuary of Athena and was brought captive to Greece. However, the presence of Eros points to an identification of Menelaos and Helen.
Although such bowls are a Greek tradition, the owner of the workshop has a Roman name and labels his products in Latin.
Black-glazed ceramic with molded relief.
A warrior, bearded, nude and with crested helmet, pulls at a female by the hair; the female, nude except for legs, looks out; Cupid tugs at the warrior's right forearm. Inscription above the crest of warrior's helmet.
The figures may be identified as Ajax and Kassandra, the priestess who had foreseen that the wooden horse made by the Greeks should not be brought inside the walls of Troy, was spared death in the sanctuary of Athena and was brought captive to Greece. However, the presence of Eros points to an identification of Menelaos and Helen.
Although such bowls are a Greek tradition, the owner of the workshop has a Roman name and labels his products in Latin.
ProvenanceBy 1903: with Edward Perry Warren (bought in Naples); purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, March 1903