VesselsGreek4th century BCE

South Italian Red-figure Fish Plate

350-320 BCE

Description

Campanian red-figured fish plate with low stem and comparatively narrow foot. Broad, shallow bowl with an un- or self-slipped central depression set off by a raised ring. Curved rim downturned to vertical. Orange-buff fabric. Underside of vessel is un- or self-slipped. Black-figure wave pattern on rim. The floor of the plate is decorated with representations of two types of fish - a striped perch and a rainbow wrasse (coris) - and a torpedo. Details are in black, dilute black and brown, and added white. The torpedo has a round body, a knobby upper tail, and a long, thin lower tail that curves to the left. Dots in black and white appear on the body and upper portion of the tail. Oblique white lines represent eyes. The body is outlined in a dilute brown slip and the curved end of the tail is rimmed with white. Both fish have pointed faces, white underbellies, lips, and gills, and details of fins and tails in added white. One fish has a black eye thinly ringed with white. Horizontal rows of dark dots appear along its body, along with a centrally placed horizontal squiggled line. The other fish has a white eye with a small black pupil, a series of curved lines arranged vertically along its back, and a short row of dots placed horizontally between the nose and first of these curved lines. The plate is in very good condition. It has been mended at the rim.

Classification

Vessels

Technique

Wheel-made

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Greek

Period

Classical period, Late, to Early Hellenistic

Century

4th century BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Dimensions

5.5 x 21.5 cm (2 3/16 x 8 7/16 in.)

Provenance

Miss Elizabeth Gaskell Norton, Boston, MA and Miss Margaret Norton, Cambridge, MA (by 1920), gift; to the Fogg Museum, 1920. Note: The Misses Norton were daughters of Charles Elliot Norton (1827-1908).