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Perfume jar (alabastron) in the form of a squatting monkey
Greek, Boiotian
Archaic Period
early 6th century B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Corinthia, Corinth
Medium/Technique
Terracotta
Dimensions
Height: 7 cm (2 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Edward Perry Warren
Accession Number13.115
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
Catalogue Raisonné
Fairbanks, Vases (MFA), no. 502.
DescriptionThis alabastron takes the form of a squatting ape who grasps his knees with his hands and hunches forward. The vessel is greyish in color and decorated with small black dots or stipples, perhaps suggesting the monkey’s hair. The monkey’s snout is further articulated with black paint, and his teeth are clearly shown, apparently bared by his grimace. The vessel’s mouth is on the top of the monkey’s head. On the monkey’s back a Greek inscription incised after the vessel was fired reads ‘Polon made me’ (POLONEMEPOIESE), preserving the artist’s name.
InscriptionsΠΟΛΟΝΕΜΕΠΟΙΕSΕ
ProvenanceBy 1912: with E. P. Warren; gift of E. P. Warren to MFA, January 2, 1913