Collection Item – Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities

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Canosan Askos; Unattributed; ca. 225 - 175 BC; 186.00

From:UC Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities

Name/TitleCanosan Askos

About this objectAskoi (singular: askos) get their name from the Greek term askós meaning 'tube,' referring to their tube-like necks. Generally, these vases were used to store oil, but they could also be used as grave offerings.

This vase was used as a grave vessel, and was decorated to show the loss of a great person. There are three groups of sculpted figures on the vase; three female mourners, two tritons, and a single gorgon head. The mourners represent the sense of loss by the family and friends of the deceased individual. They have their hands raised and their heads tilted, mourning the dead person. A rectangular vent-hole is cut in the rear of each.

On the shoulder of the askos are two tritons, lesser sea gods or daimones, who celebrate the greatness of the deceased. Given the position of their arms and the circular hold in the mouth of each, it is likely that they were playing a horn or trumpet. At the centre front is a raised relief image of Medusa. The gorgon-head was meant to ward off evil spirits from disturbing the deceased. Gorgons were a common apotropaic figure, added to objects to protect them from evil or bad luck.

On each side of the vase is painted a white ketea, a sea monsters who featured in the story of Perseus and Andromeda, or possibly a hippocampus, a part horse-part fish creature belonging to Poseidon.

MakerUnattributed

Date Madeca. 225 - 175 BC

PeriodHellenistic

Place MadeItaly; Apulia

Medium and MaterialsCeramic: Pottery

Style and IconographyApulian

Style and IconographyCanosan

TechniqueMolding (forming)

TechniqueThrowing (pottery technique)

TechniquePolychromy

MeasurementsHeight to lip 442mm; Height to top of centre figurine 608mm; height of individual figurines ca. 280-300mm

Subject and Association KeywordsWomen in art

Subject and Association KeywordsAnimals, mythical

Subject and Association KeywordsClothing and dress

Subject and Association KeywordsFigurative art

Subject and Association KeywordsMourning customs

Subject and Association KeywordsDeath in art

Named CollectionThe James Logie Memorial Collection, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Object TypeFunerary Vases

Object number186.00