Fish plate (Campanian red-figure ware)
350 BCE-340 BCE
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
4.2 × 18.9 cm diameter
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1971
© Public Domain
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts - Great Hall Costume Corridor
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Plates such as this one were probably used to serve fish, with the depression in the centre being either a sauce container or a device to catch the oil or juices from the cooked fish. The painted fish can be identified as real fish still found in the Mediterranean today. The roundest one is a torpedo fish, or electric ray, identified by the black spots on its back. The other two are thought to be bream, or a variety of sargus. The fish are edible and were expensive in antiquity, the torpedo being especially valued for its flesh and liver.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Campania, Italy
Accession Number
D164-1971
Department
Antiquities
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Physical description
Shallow dish with a low stem and in the centre a circular depression surrounded by a ridge. Decorated in red-figure with three fish, one of which is a 'torpedo' (with small black spots); the other two, with three black stripes characteristic of the painter, are probably a type of flounder. On the rim a wave pattern.