| Collection: | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
| Summary: | Aryballos in the shape of a siren. |
| Ware: | Corinthian |
| Date: | ca. 580 BC - ca. 570 BC |
| Dimensions: | H. 0.08 m. |
| Shape: | Aryballos |
| Ceramic Phase: | Middle Corinthian |
| Period: | Archaic |
Condition:
Paint is rather worn.
Decoration Description:
The vase is modelled in the shape of a siren. Brown spots of paint cover the body, and the tail, feet, and hair are also painted brown. There is red overpainting in the hair. There is a hole at each side of the neck for suspension, and a hole for filling at the top of the head.
Decorating a plastically modelled vase with brown spots was a common technique, for example see Payne, 176, fig. 79 (a hedgehog) and 177, fig. 80b (a rabbit). The siren vase can be compared to one illustrated in Maximova (146, pl. XLIII, no. 161), except that the latter has a sideways-turned head.
Collection History:
Seth K. Sweetser Fund, 1965.
Sources Used:
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bulletin 63(1965): 213Les Vases Plastiques dans l'Antiquité (Époque Archaïque) (Paris, 1927): 146, pl. XLIII, no. 161
Other Bibliography:
Korinthische Plastik des 7. und 6. Jahrhunderts vor Christus (Bonn, 1971): 131