Vase decorated with bulls and birds

Mycenaean, about 1300-1200 BC
From Tomb 83, Enkomi, Cyprus

In the 'Pictorial Style'

This vase is a fine example of Mycenaean Pictorial Style pottery. It is decorated with a well-observed scene from nature, showing a cattle egret removing a tick from the hide of a bull. On the other side of the vase is a bull with a bird in the air above it.

The animals on the vase are painted in outline, and their bodies are divided into panels filled with highly decorative patterns. These may reflect the influence of contemporary textile design.

Large numbers of Pictorial Style vases decorated with scenes of humans and animals were made on the Greek mainland and exported to Cyprus, where this one was found.

R. Higgins, The Greek Bronze Age (London, The British Museum Press, 1977)

R.A. Higgins, Minoan and Mycenean art, new revised edition (London, Thames & Hudson, 1997)

L. Burn, The British Museum book of G-1, revised edition (London, The British Museum Press, 1999)