ClassificationsGreek and Roman Art

Bowl

Place CreatedGreece, Europe

CultureMinoan or import

PeriodEarly Bronze Age

Dateca. 3000 BCE

MediumMarble

Credit LineEx Brummer Collection, donated by the Brummer-Laszlo Family

Dimensions10 1/16 x 4 15/16" (25.5 x 12.5 cm)

Object number1998.013.010

Label TextThe practice of carving vessels from hard stones spread from Egypt to Greece during the Bronze Age. In the Cycladic Islands beginning in the Early Bronze Age, the preferred material was white marble, which was readily available in high quality. In Crete, however, craftsmen exploited a much wider range of stones, many of them with exotic patterning. The debt to Egyptian models can be demonstrated from imports found on Crete, some of which had been locally modified.

On this large bowl or jar, impressive in size, a simple lip flows into the concave neck. The shoulder, sharply defined, is articulated with four tiny string holes. On vessels of other shapes but having the same scale, some scholars have suggested that these holes might have served as a means of suspension. Considerations of weight, however, suggest rather that they allowed a cover to be fastened in place. Below, a hemispherical body rests on a low offset foot.

The vessel is said to be from Crete, where a concentration of marble vessels with black and gray mottling has been observed at Mochlos. The shape suggests that the artist was familiar with Near Eastern prototypes. Although the precise function of this vessel is unknown, the effort invested in its creation is suggestive either of elite luxury or solemn ritual contexts, or perhaps both.
Exhibition HistoryMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Summer 1945
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2004 - June 19, 2014
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, July 2014 - Present
Published ReferencesThe Ernest Brummer Collection, Vol. II (Zurich: Galerie Koller, 1979), 290-290, number 664.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 42.

ProvenanceWith Brummer Gallery, New York, New York, purchased from Jean Mikras, Paris, France, August 5, 1936. Ex coll. Ernest Brummer (1891-1964), New York, New York by 1964. With Galerie Koller AG, Zurich, Switzerland, October 16-19, 1979. Ex coll. Ella Brummer (1900-1999), New York, New York.

Status

On view

Collections