VesselsGreek5th century BCE

Hydria-Kalpis (water jar): Women and Herons

465-455 BCE

Artists

The Painter of the Yale OinochoeArtist

Classification

Vessels

Technique

Red-figure

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Greek

Period

Classical period, Early

Century

5th century BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Dimensions

35.5 x 29.2 cm (14 x 11 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Parallels: Herons were apparently popular household pets in Athens. They were sacred to Aphrodite and their behavior was considered a clue to changes in the weather; see J.D. Beazley, The Lews House Collection of Gems (Oxford 1920) Women and herons appear on two other kalpides by the painter of the Yale Oinochoe: a vase in London 83.11-24.26, ARV 503 23 and a vase in Houston, 80.95 (P.J. Holliday, Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts winter 1984)The women on the Houston vase wear their hair in the same way as those on the Harvard kalpis, with the queues secured in small cloth bags. For other examples of women and herons see Chicoago Art Inst. 16.140, ARV 258, 18; Copenhagen 4997, ARV 1214,4; Copenhagen 7359, CVA Copenhagen 4; Louvre G 544, Louvre 8 pl. 44, 5. The shape and subsidiary ornament of this kalpis are characteristic of the Painter of the Yale Oinochoe, a pot-specialist who painted at least seven hydriae, but also and ornament of kalpis London E 178, with the Judgment of Paris, ARV 503, 20.