the mycenaean 'window-crater' in the british museum

8/9/2019 The Mycenaean 'Window-Crater' in the British Museum

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The Mycenaean 'Window-Crater' in the British MuseumAuthor(s): V. KarageorghisSource: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 77, Part 2 (1957), pp. 269-271Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/629367Accessed: 17-03-2015 10:05 UTC

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THE

MYCENAEAN

'WINDOW-CRATER'

IN THE BRITISH

MUSEUM

THIS

fragmentary

vase

was discovered

in

1895

in a tomb at Curium

by

the British

Museum

Expedition (Turner

Bequest)

and was first

published

in the Excavations in

Cyprus.1

Since

then

references

to it

have

been

made

by

various

scholars,2

chiefly

because

of its unusual decoration

with

female figures inside ladder-pattern frames; these frames have been commonly interpreted as

'windows',

hence the

name 'window-crater'.

The same

tomb

in

which

the 'window-crater'

had

been

discovered was re-excavated

by

the

expedition

of the

University

Museum,

Philadelphia,

in

1939,

and

thirty-five

new

fragments

of

the

same vase

were

found.3

These

have now been restored

to the main

body

of the crater in the

British

Museum,

and it has

been

suggested

that

in

its

more

complete

form

it should be re-examined

and

published

with better

illustration.4

A

detailed

description

of its

form

and

fabric is

given

in BMC Vases and the

CVA.5

It

is

probably

the

largest

of

its kind

(height,

43'5

cm.;

diameter,

43"2

cm.);

the fabric

represents

Mycenaean

ware at its best:

buff

pinkish

clay,

dark red lustrous

paint.

Each

panel

between

the

two handles is

decorated with

a chariot

scene

flanked with

groups

of female

figures.

Side

A

(Fig.

I).

In the

centre

a

biga

with

driver and

passenger,

moving

to

right;

to

left,

[Photo:

British

Museum

FIG.

I.-'WINDOW CRATER',

SIDE

A

[Photo:

British

Museum

FIG.

2.-'WINDOW CRATER',

END

VIEW

ladder-pattern

frames

forming

a

square

divided

into four

rectangular

panels,

each

containing

a

female

figure;

to

right

similar

panels

with

solid

'shell'

motives

in

each

corner.

The

chariot-group, though very

fragmentary, betrays

in

its

drawing

the

neat

style

of

the

vase-painter. Like some of his contemporaries the artist is conscious that he is drawing two horses,

the

one behind the

other,

and

he

is

anxious to

convey

this

by

neat

drawing,

which

separates

from

one another

four hind

legs

and two

tails."

The

horses'

hoofs

are

accurately

drawn;

the

'tufted'

manes7

are

represented

in

the

form

of

feather-like

projections;

the

profiles

of

the

two

charioteers

are

also

neatly

and

accurately

drawn.

The 'ladies in

the windows' on the

left

(Fig.

2)

form

the

best

known

and

the

most

frequently

1

Murray

and

others:

Excavations

n

Cyprus,

p.

73,

Fig.

127;

see

also

BMC

Vases

,

Pt.

ii,

78,

fig. 132

=

C39I,

also

CVA.GBFasc.

i,

P1.

6,

No.

9,

p.

7.

2

Sir

A. Evans:

Mycenaean

Tree

and

Pillar

Cult,

JHS

xxi

(1901),

p. III;

BMC

Vases

xvi,

n.2;

Casson:

Ancient

Cyprus,

P1.

iv;

Furumark:

MP.

443

f.

3

University

Museum

Bulletin,

Vol.

8

(I940),

No.

I,

p.

9,

P1.

ivd.

4

Mr. A. H. S. Megaw, Director of Antiquities in

Cyprus,

and Dr.

P.

Dikaios,

Curator

of the

Cyprus

Museum,

kindly

allowed me to take

these

fragments

to

London

where,

with the

permission

of Mr.

B.

Ashmole,

then

Keeper

of the

Dept.

of

Greek and

Roman

Antiquities

in

the

British

Museum,

they

have been

restored to

the

crater.

Dr.

J.

Benson,

who

is

studying

the

Mycenaean

material

of the

University

Museum

Expedition,

has

given

me

permission

to

refer

to the

new

fragments.

To

the

above-mentioned scholars

I

express

here

my

thanks

for

their

co-operation

and

generosity.

5

Loc.

cit.

6

Cf. the British Museum crater

C373; the same idea

appears

later

in

Greek Geometric

vase-painting

of the

pic-

torial

style.

7

Cf.

Evans: PM.

iv,

p.

829,

figs. 8Io-II.







THE

MYCENAEAN

'WINDOW-CRATER' IN THE BRITISH

MUSEUM

271

hands

in a

way

which

recalls

the

representation

of

gathering

of women

on Minoan

frescoes,

where

no

pillar-worshipping

is

suggested,

but

rather

vivid

conversation.16

It is

even doubtful whether

the

rectangular

panels

have

any

architectural

significance.17

As

it

has

already

been

observed,

there is

a

desire

for

symmetry

which

is

attained

by

dividing

or

separating

the

different

groups

or

scenes

by

means

of

frames

in

ladder-pattern.

They

may

simply

recall

a

similar

method

of

framing

panels

in

the

major

art of fresco

painting.18

If, however, they do have an architectural significance and the women are meant to be

looking

out

of

windows we must

admit

that the artist is more interested

in the

ceramic,

i.e.

decorative

requirements

of

his

subject

than in

the

subject

as

such. There is

probably

here

a remote echo

from

significant

representations

in

fresco

painting.

Furumark

suggested

a

pre-Homeric

rELtXo(rKO7TLa.19

One

may

also

suggest

that the

women are

watching

chariot

races,

or

bidding

farewell

to a

departing

hero

(in

the fashion of the 'Warrior

Vase')

or are

lamenting

a dead hero

departing

by

chariot.20

The

dress

of

the

'women

in

the windows' is

purely

Minoan: close-fit

jacket,

bell skirt

and

belt.

Outside

Crete this dress

prevailed

already

on

the

mainland-probably

in

royal

courts-at

the

time

of

the shaft

graves

at

Mycenae,

and

is

represented

on frescoes of the

LH.

III

period

in

centres

such

as

Mycenae,

Tiryns

and

Thebes,21

and on

ivories.22

In the Levant the

ivory

from

Ugarit

is

another

example,

under

strong

Minoan influence.23

The

'window-crater',

however,

is the

only

instance

where

Minoan dress

is

represented

in

vase-

painting.

Men and

women

on

Myc.

IIIA

vases

usually

wear

a

long

robe.24

The nearest

parallel

to the dress of the 'women in the windows' may be found on a miniature fresco from Cnossos where

women are

represented

in

the

theatral

area.25 The

women

near the

pillars

wear

a

blue shirt

with

black

horizontal

lines,

and a

plain

jacket.

The

striped jacket

of

one 'woman

in the window'

(Side

A

left,

lower

left

window)

is

paralleled by

similar

jackets

of

Mycenaean

female

figurines.26

Such

figurines

have

been found

on the

mainland,27 Rhodes,28

Cyprus29

and

Ugarit,30

and

date

from

the

Myc.

IIIA:

2

period

onwards.31

Chronology

of

the

'window-crater': The

shape

and

style

of

the

pictorial

scene

suggest

an

early

date. The

absence of

floral or

geometric fillings give

it a

pre-Amarna

date,

whereas the

close

similarity

of

the

drawings

with the

fresco

paintingsput

it

among

the earliest

Mycenaean

vases

of

the

pictorial

style.

It

should

probably

be dated

shortly

after

I400oo

.C.32

V.

KARAGEORGHIS.

Cyprus

Museum.

16

Furumark:

MP,

p.

445,

n.3.

17

Cf.

BMC

Vases,

p.

xvi,

n.2.

18

A

narrow

ladder-band is

also

observed on

the

Chieftain's

Vase

of

steatite from

Hagia

Triada,

where

the

shield-bearers

are

separated

from

the

other

two

figures.

19

op.

cit.,

p.

445,

n-4-

0

This

suggestion

I

owe to

Mr.

H.

Catling,

M.A.,

who

kindly

discussed with

me several

points

of this

note.

21

For

references,

see Lorimer:

op.

cit.,

p. 365;

she

rightly

believes

that

these

frescoes

were

made

on

the

mainland

in

the

fourteenth

century

by

Minoan

artists

after

the

sack

of

Cnossos.

22

A.J.

B.

Wace:

Mycenae, figs.

55-6

and

Ior

-3.

23

Syria

x

(1929),

P1.

lxi;

Ugarit

was

in

contact with

Crete

already

in the M.M.

period.

Cf.

Cl.

Schaeffer:

Ugaritica

ii,

p.

51,

53

et

passim.

24

Cf.

Furumark:

MP.

fig. 25,

Mot.

I:

i,

3-10

25

Evans:

PM

iii,

P1.

xvi,

fig.

28.

26

Lorimer,

op.

cit.,

fig.

53c.

27

Ibid.,

p. 366.

28

Furumark:

CMP,

p.

88.

29

P. Dikaios:

Guide to

the

Cyprus

Museum

(2nd

edn.),

p.

171:

9-Io;

Lorimer,

op.

cit.,

p. 366,

says

that no

such

figurines

have been found

in

Cyprus

so

Schaeffer:

Ugaritica

ii,

fig.

97

I18-19.

31

Furumark:

CMP,

p.

88.

32

Cf.

Daniel:

AJA

xlvi

(1942),

2

i,

places

it

between

I400-I370;

similar

date

is

given

by

Furumark:

Myc.

IIIA:

2e,

p.

443.

POSTSCRIPT

I had

overlooked

a

fragment

of

Mycenaean

amphoroid

crater

from

Enkomi,

discovered

by

Schaeffer

and

published

by

E.

Coche

de

la

Fert6,

Essai de

classification

e la

ciramiquemycinienne 'Enkomi,

pl.

i/7.

The

facial characteristics

of

the

charioteers

are

almost

identical with

those of

the

'window crater'

and the

Verghi

crater

referred to

above.

One

may

therefore

suggest

the

possibility

of

tracing

in

those three

vases

the

hand of the

same

vase-painter.





the mycenaean 'window-crater' in the british museum

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