Greek, Rhodes, 6th century B.C.

Terracotta

H: 5.3 cm

Serial: 27742

Provenance: Ex- Blomberg collection; Ex- US private collection, New Jersey, acquired in London, 7 June 2002

The flask is formed as a cockle shell; its small shape is ample enough to contain an amount of oil, and probably a perfumed oil, that was used by the Greeks, both men and women, in cosmetic and hygienic purposes. Athletes would apply oil to skin of their naked bodies to protect it from the sun, as well as the wrestlers would do it in addition to make wrestling even a more difficult task as it is not easy to catch the body with the oiled and slippery skin.

The piece belongs to the group of plastic vases, mold-made and painted vessels that were mass produced from the end of the 7th century B.C. in a wide variety of shapes. They can represent a human figure or a head, animal, plant or object; they are all topped by a small-vase neck with a disk mouth. One of the main production centers of plastic vases in Classical antiquity was Rhodes; typical of Rhodian plastic vases, the mouth is decorated with dark brown dots, placed in between rays. The mouth is connected to the body by a tiny handle, the aperture was served to receive the suspension cord or chain.

The pictorial decoration of the clay (of light pink color so characteristic of the Rhodian clay) is reduced to a few dark lines that follow the natural pattern of growth rings of the shell. The cockles, marine bivalve mollusks, are distinctive by rounded shells that are bilaterally symmetrical, and are heart-shaped when viewed from the end. The potter carefully reproduced the two ribbed halves of the shell, its compact shape comfortably fits the human palm – it was designed with the idea to be handled and it has great tactile appeal. As real shells have been found in Greek sanctuaries of different deities, the imitation of shells in terracottas would not be associated with just one god as his attribute. However, it has been noted that the cockle shell, being a popular attribute of Aphrodite, is a suitable subject for a scent-container.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DUCAT J., Les vases plastiques rhodiens, Paris, 1966, pp. 140-141, pl. 21, 2.

MAXIMOVA M. I., Les vases plastiques dans l’antiquité, l’epoque archaïque, vol. 1-2, Paris, 1927.

HIGGINS R. A., Catalogue of the terracottas, Department of Greek and Roman antiquities, British Museum, vol. 2, London, 1959, p. 29, nos. 1648-1649, pl. 19.