DRAG IMAGE TO ROTATE ARTWORK
Nikosthenic neckamphora (Attic black-figure ware)
530 BCE
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
30.5 × 20.4 × 17.3 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1980
© Public Domain
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts - Great Hall Costume Corridor
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
An amphora is a two-handled vessel used for storing liquids, dry goods or foodstuffs. This Nikosthenic neck amphora is named for the inventor of its shape, the potter Nikosthenes. Nikosthenes experimented with new forms while working for a number of workshops in Attica, the region around Athens. The form is influenced by Etruscan bucchero (black-burnished) wares from Italy and this vase was probably produced for the Etruscan market. Around the rim is a pattern of leaping dolphins, and each side of the neck displays a complex design of lotuses and palmettes (fan-shaped motifs). The dominant decoration on the shoulder shows a large eye and eyebrow. The eye motif was associated with the Greek god of wine, Dionysus, and was thought to protect against evil. Above the eye is the inscription ‘Nikosthenes made me’.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Attica, Greece
Inscription
inscribed in Greek script at the junction of the neck and body: NIKOSTHENES EPOIESEN
inscribed on the base: III (trademark)
Accession Number
D392-1980
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
Vase with an ovoid body, set off from a long neck tapering upwards to a wide flaring mouth, with very wide strap handles from the shoulder to rim level and four raised fillets, one at the neck/body junction, two on the upper body and one at the base of the body. The flat rim is decorated with dolphins and each side of the neck has a large lotus/palmette quatrefoil with added red and white. On the shoulder is a large eye, flanked by palmettes.