JPG - Current Image
PDF - Current Image & Data

Knob-Handled Patera (Bowl) (Primary Title)

Attributed to the, White Saccos-Chariot Group Painter, Ancient Greek, active ca. -320 – 305 (Artist)

ca. 320 BC
South Italian (Apulia)
Ceramics
Containers-Vessels
terracotta
Ancient Art
Overall: 5 × 15 × 14 5/8 in. (12.7 × 38.1 × 37.15 cm)
81.89
G227 - Greek, Roman & Hellenistic Galleries

And when Perseus cut off [Medusa’s] head, there sprang forth great Chrysaor and the horse Pegasus . . . Now Pegasus flew away and left the earth, the mother of flocks, and came to the deathless gods: and he dwells in the house of Zeus and brings to wise Zeus the thunder and lightning.

—Hesiod, Theogony

 

The form of this vessel, with its distinctive mushroom-shaped knobs attached to the rim, imitates bronze vessels that had been made since the 6th century BC. Paterae (bowls) are depicted in ancient art in a wide variety of contexts, from watering horses to cultic activities, including ritual handwashing.

Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
“The Horse in Ancient Greek Art,” National Sporting Library and Museum, Middleburg, VA, September 7, 2017 – January 14, 2018; VMFA, February 17 – July 8, 2018

“Bestial Angels,” William King Museum of Art (Abingdon, VA): 1 December 1995-14 January 1996.

“The Art of South Italy: Vases from Magna Graecia,” Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond, VA): 12 May-8 August 1982; Philbrook Art Center (Tulsa, OK): 20 November 1982-9 January 1983; The Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, MI): 7 February-10 April 1983.
May 1981 (Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York); purchased by Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), Richmond; accessioned into VMFA collection May 1981. [1]

[1] Information in VMFA Curatorial and Registration records.
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC

Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.