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Attic Horse-head Amphorae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2013

Ann Birchall
Affiliation:
British Museum, London

Extract

During the first half of the sixth century B.C. a particularly distinctive type of black-figured vase was produced in Athens. This was the panel amphora decorated with the profile of a horse's head. A number of these ‘horse-head amphorae’ has survived to modern times and one such was purchased by the British Museum in 1964 with the aid of funds from the Ready Bequest. Hitherto this class of amphora had been represented in the National collection only by sherds, notably the four found at Tell Defenneh which R. M. Cook published in 1954. However, the subsequent re-organisation of the sherd collection produced four more, still unregistered, sherds, of which one was found to make a join with one of the published Tell Defenneh ones. The publication of the British Museum's newly-acquired amphora, together, for the sake of completeness, with all the London fragments as we now have them, provides the first reason for the present paper.

Moreover, in recent years there has been a spate of Attic horse-head amphorae, re-discovered or arriving fresh, in museums and private collections all over the world. So many are now known that a simple list to supplement that of Beazley's Attic Black-figured Vase-Painters and Paralipomena seemed unworthy of what must now be recognised as an important series of Attic black-figured vase. My other present objective is, therefore, a stylistic classification. I leave for another occasion, or even for others to take up, the many other aspects which the complete discussion of the subject should include. Here I am concerned with stylistic analysis, with making at least a start in distinguishing individual painters and workshops.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1972

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References

The author wishes to acknowledge her indebtedness to the Trustees of the British Museum and to all the Museums and Institutes abroad whose vases form the subject of this paper; she also is deeply grateful to the following individuals:

Dr Bernhardt, Mr J. Bisno, Mr J. Boardman, Dr Chr. Boehringer, Dr B. Bothmer, Dr D. von Bothmer, Dr M. L. Buhl, Dr H. A. Cahn, Prof. A. Cambitoglou, Mr B. F. Cook, Prof. P. Demargne, Mrs Poly Demoulini, Prof. P. Devambez, Mr K. DeVries, Mrs Elsbeth Dusenbery, Dr E. Fablicotti, Miss A. Fazzari, Dr Nezih Firati, Mr D. E. L. Haynes, Dr R. A. Higgins, Dr H. Hoffman, Mrs F. Hölscher, Mme J. Labrousse, Prof. E. Langlotz, Miss Ulla Lindner, Prof. L. G. Lo Porto, Miss Iris Love, Dr G. Maetzke, Prof. H. Metzger, Dr D. Metzler, Prof. R. Noll, Prof. K. Parlasca, Dr E. Paul, Dr Paola Pelegatti, Dr Barbara Philippaki, Mrs M. Z. Philippides, Dr H. Protzmann, Mr T. Rasmussen, Dr E. Reschke, Prof. M. Robertson, Mme M. Rocher Jauneau, Mrs H. Salskov-Roberts, Dr Heide Scharmer, Mr B. B. Shefton, Dr Brian Sparkes (as editor), Dr Paule Spitaels, Dr K. Stähler, Mr R. Stead, Prof. A. D. Trendall, Mr S. Trolle, Mr G. Turner, Mme V. Verhoogen, Dr C. C. Vermeule, Mr J. P. Wade and Prof. J. B. Ward-Perkins.

1 Registration number 1964 4–15 1.

2 CVA British Museum viii 43 and pl. 101, nos. 1–4.

3 These sherds were registered 1965 9–30 835, 836 and 837; their possible provenience is Naucratis, Egypt. The fourth, the joining sherd, is the lower part of 1952 5–5 23; see p. 48 infra.

4 Anderson, J. K., Ancient Greek Horsemanship 43.Google Scholar

5 Paralipθmena 9, 26, following on from ABV 17, 26.

6 There are four horse-head amphorae in Museo Nazionale, Taranto, my C, 4; F, 14 and G, 1 and G, 2; I do not know which of them are the two listed by Beazley, , ABV 17, 24 and 40.Google Scholar

7 I understand from Dr Maetzke that there is only one horse-head amphora in Florence; hence ABV 17, 36 or 45.