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Beaker
Greek
Hellenistic Period
160–100 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Asia Minor, Pergamon
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, relief decoration
Dimensions
Maximum height: 7.2 cm (2 13/16 in.); diameter of rim: 9.6 cm (3 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Benjamin and Lucy Rowland Fund
Accession Number2003.120
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
DescriptionThe cup is almost cylindrical. On the bottom, are two rings, a broad channel, and two small central rings. The potter must have incised this foot into the lower surface while the vase was still on the wheel. The cup is decorated with an ivy wreath, from whose ends two ribbons flutter. The wreath is made by juxtaposing applied precast elements, each consisting of three ivy leaves and two blossoms tied together by their stems. The wreath is formed of two branches, the left composed of four of the precast units, the right by three units. Each branch ends in a heart-shaped precast unit covered with dots, which is linked to the opposite heart-shaped unit by a short bar. Each ribbon is indicated by incised undulating lines that form two loops. A gouge indicates the surface of the ribbon. An incised line indicates the string ties for the ribbons.
The vertical exterior wall is an irregular black, which is glossy in some and matte or rough in others, and some areas are brown. The bottom and the interior of the cup is brown. The color differences are probably due irregularities of the temperature in the kiln and to firing in a stack, where covered surfaces of foot and interior were not exposed to the reducing atmosphere that darkened the exterior.
The cup is intact and shows a minor repair at the inner rim. Small surface abrasions and losses are visible throughout. A larger loss is present at one area of the inner rim, a smaller one underneath the foot above a hole in the ceramic.
The vertical exterior wall is an irregular black, which is glossy in some and matte or rough in others, and some areas are brown. The bottom and the interior of the cup is brown. The color differences are probably due irregularities of the temperature in the kiln and to firing in a stack, where covered surfaces of foot and interior were not exposed to the reducing atmosphere that darkened the exterior.
The cup is intact and shows a minor repair at the inner rim. Small surface abrasions and losses are visible throughout. A larger loss is present at one area of the inner rim, a smaller one underneath the foot above a hole in the ceramic.
ProvenanceBy about 1981/1982, Elie Borowski (b. 1913 - d. 2003), Toronto and Basel [see note 1]; about 1990, sold by Borowski, probably to a private collection, Japan [see note 2]; June 12, 2000, Borowski collection sale, Christie's, New York, lot 156, to Jerome M. Eisenberg, Royal-Athena Galleries, New York; 2003, sold by Royal-Athena to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 26, 2003)
NOTES: [1] Paul Denis of the Royal Ontario Museum attested that he saw this piece in Borowski's house in Toronto in 1981-1982. [2] In the introduction to the auction catalogue, it is noted that the group of 157 Greek vases for sale had been "sold about 10 years ago" by Borowski. Information supplied by Royal Athena indicates that this vase was in a Japanese private collection. Whether all 157 vases were consigned from this Japanese private collection to the Christie's auction is not known.
NOTES: [1] Paul Denis of the Royal Ontario Museum attested that he saw this piece in Borowski's house in Toronto in 1981-1982. [2] In the introduction to the auction catalogue, it is noted that the group of 157 Greek vases for sale had been "sold about 10 years ago" by Borowski. Information supplied by Royal Athena indicates that this vase was in a Japanese private collection. Whether all 157 vases were consigned from this Japanese private collection to the Christie's auction is not known.