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Libation bowl (phiale) with women dancing at an altar
Greek
Classical Period
about 450 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, White Ground
Dimensions
Overall: 3.2 × 22.5 cm (1 1/4 × 8 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Edwin E. Jack Fund
Accession Number65.908
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
DescriptionThe interior of this libation bowl, used for liquid sacrifices, depicts what appears to be a religious ritual, in which girls dance around an altar. The girls are identically dressed in flowing dresses (chitones) and pink mantles (himatia) and are barefoot, and all but one wears her hair up.. Seven of them grasp each other by the wrist, but do not join at the ends, so it is unclear whether or not they are simply meant to be in a row, or a circle. One other girl faces the altar, playing the double pipes to facilitate the dance. Upon the altar is a burnt offering, evidenced by the high flames. To the right of the altar is a wool basket (kalathos) and a ribbon hanging above. These are either priestesses or initiates.
Provenance1965, sold by Petros (Peter) Vitalis to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 22, 1965)
NOTE: Said to have been found with MFA accession no. 65.1166.
NOTE: Said to have been found with MFA accession no. 65.1166.