ClassificationsGreek and Roman Art

Bathtub (Larnax)

AAT Object Form/Functionlarnakes

AAT Object Form/Functionfunerary vessels

AAT Object Form/Functionbasins (vessels)

AAT Object Form/Functionbathtubs

CultureMinoan

PeriodLate Minoan IIIA

Datemid 14th Century BCE

MediumCeramic

Credit LineCarlos Collection of Ancient Art

Dimensions15 3/4 x 43 5/16 x 21 5/8 in. (40 x 110 x 54.9 cm)

Object number2002.034.001

Label TextFunctional bathtubs, the earliest known in the West, have been found at Bronze Age palaces such as Knossos (portable) and Pylos (built in). The Linear B tablets from Pylos also give us the ancient name: [re-wo-te-re-jo]. The decoration outside is probably a stylized version of octopus tentacles, which, together with the fish inside (bream) are obvious choices for aquatic contexts. The wavy double line on the floor represents water draining out through the plug; the semi-circles below the rim perhaps sea urchins or anemones.

Water in Greece is precious. Even for the elite, a bath would have been a great and occasional luxury. Homer's description of Circe's servants preparing a bath for Odysseus underlines the ritual and formality:

"The fourth maid fetched water and lit up a great fire under the big cauldron so that the water grew warm. When the bright copper was boiling, she sat me down in a bath and washed me with water from the great cauldron mixed with cold to a comfortable heat, sluicing my head and my shoulders until all the painful weariness was gone from my limbs. My bath done, she rubbed me with olive oil, clothed me in a tunic and a splendid robe and conducted me to the hall, where she seated me in a beautiful chair with silver decorations and a footstool below."

To the Greeks, the Underworld was entered by water. As with many other Minoan bathtubs, this one was probably later used as a coffin to convey the deceased across the sea, where marine imagery would be equally appropriate. The two functions of bathtubs, bathing and burial, combine in the story of Agamemnon who, on return from Troy, was murdered by his wife and her lover in a silver bath.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2004 - August 26, 2013
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 25, 2013 - November 17, 2021
Published ReferencesMCCM Newsletter, December 2002 - February 2003.
MCCM Newsletter, September - October 2004.
Jasper Gaunt, "New Galleries of Greek & Roman Art at Emory University: The Michael C. Carlos Museum," Minerva 16 (January/February 2005): 13-17.
Susan Jaques, A Love for the Beautiful: Discovering America's Hidden Art Museums (Gulliford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot Press, 2012), 41.
Adam Nicolson, The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters (London: William Collins, 2014), color figure, 214-216.

ProvenanceWith Ursula Becchina [Palladion Antike Kunst], Basel, Switzerland, from March 30, 1983 until at least July 15, 1986, acquired from Papagelis. With Christophe Vincent, Vevey, Switzerland, November 16, 1987. Said to be with Noriyoshi Horiuchi, Japan, 1990s. Purchased by MCCM from Robert Haber (1947-2024) [Robert Haber & Associates, Inc.], New York, New York. Deaccessioned and transferred to the Hellenic Republic, January 23, 2024.

Status

Not on view