figure;
alabastron
- Description
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Terracotta alabastron (oil or perfume flask) with the upper part in the form of the head of a woman. Head fragment only. She wears a chiton or epiblema/veil over her head. Prominent almond shaped eyes and large ears. Mould-made in two parts. Light red-brown clay.
- Production date
- 575BC-500BC
- Dimensions
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Height: 5.20 centimetres
- Curator's comments
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Object owned and held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This record is included in the British Museum database as part of the Museum’s Naukratis Project, a research collaboration that aims to virtually re-unite finds from the ancient port city of Naukratis, now distributed over 80 museums worldwide.
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A number of East Greek terracotta alabastron in the form of a standing kore are known from Naukratis, from a range of mould series and fabric variants (British Museum GR 1886,0401.1400, GR1886,0401.1421 ; Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 86.392; Cambridge, Museum of Classical Archaeology NA322, NA324
Oxford, Ashmolean Museum AN1886.466).
Parrallels from Kamiros, dated mid to late 6th century BC (Higgins 1954, no. 47, 48 62; GR 1861,1024.7, GR1852,0112.6; GR1861, 0425.34). There is a close parallel from Lindos, Rhodes, dated 525BC-400BC (Blinkenberg 1931, pl. 85, no. 2114). It was originally thought to be made in Rhodes (Higgins 1954, 48-9). Probably from South Ionia, Jones' NAA analysis of GR1888,0601.659 also from Naukratis, places it within his East Greek, probably Milesian group (Jones 1985, 673). A parallel from Erythrae, Turkey, dated between c. 540BC to c. 520BC (Bayburtluoğlu 1977, 80-1, pls. 9, 11 and 16, nos. 17, 19 and 27). Parallel from Memphis (Ashton, 2003, 77, UC47941, erroneously dated to the Hellenistic period).
Ashton, S-A. 2003. Petrie's Ptolemaic and Roman Memphis. London : Institute of Archaeology, UCL.
Bayburtluoğlu, C. 1977. Erythrai II. Ankara.
Blinkenberg, C. 1931. Lindos. Fouilles de l’Acropole 1902-1914, I. Les petits objets, Berlin.
Jones, R. E. 1985. Greek and Cypriot Pottery: A Review of Scientific Studies. Athens.
- Location
- Not on display
- Department
- External
- Additional IDs
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Miscellaneous number: 86.392 (Accession Number)
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Miscellaneous number: P.4544 (Pottery & Porcelain Ledger No.)