Category:
Containers and related objects, vessels, kantharoi
Date:
Graeco-Roman Period, Ptolemaic Period (323-31 BCE)
Provenance:
Lower Egypt, Alexandria, Nelson Island
Material(s):
Man made material, pottery (terracotta)
Height:
12.3 cm;
Diameter:
9 cm
Hall:
Nelson Island Collection, showcase 34
Description
The kantharos, which in its early stages is closely related to the cup, has its two handles set vertically. The normal size of a kantharos was between 10 cm to 15 cm across, but there are also many smaller and larger ones. The Protogeometric kantharos has low handles and a conical foot. In the Geometric style, this foot does not exist, and the handles rise high above the rim, and sometimes there is no distinct lip. This type of kantharos still existed at the end of the Hellenistic period.
The information given here is subject to modification/update as a result of ongoing research.
References
- R. M. Cook, Greek Painted Pottery (London: Routledge, 1997).
- Cécile Harlaut, “Aux origines d’Alexandrie et de sa production céramique, vases de contextes hellénistiques anciens, provenant d’Alexandrie, de l’île de Nelson (région de Canope), et de Plinthine (Chôra occidentale) 331-250 av. J.-C.”, in Cécile Harlaut and John W Hayes, Pottery in Hellenistic Alexandria, Études alexandrines 45 (Alexandria: Centre d’Études Alexandrines, 2018): 75, 139, fig. 19, no. 109; 159, Pl. F.2.