Boeotian crater (Heidelberg G 44)
The geometric Boeotic crater with inventory number G 44 in the Museum of Antiquities at Heidelberg University is one of the outstanding pieces in the university collection and one of only a few such vessels in the world.
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The geometric Boeotian crater , which was probably found on Keos , is quite large, 55 to 56 centimeters high, which identifies it as a grave crater, marking a grave. Several boreholes in the ground, at the transition between the foot and the basin, which were probably intended as drainage holes for rainwater, speak for this use. It consists of two parts, a high conical base and a crater basin. The vase was put together from several large fragments, missing parts, including the entire foot, were modernized. In a revision of the addition, the foot has been greatly increased in a more recent restoration. The clay is brown and has a slight mica content . The surface has been damaged by numerous limestone fragments.
The underside of the basin is provided with a black coating ("varnish"), over which there are two further broad black varnish bands, which are interrupted by thin, clay-ground bands. Above that there is another clay-ground stripe, then three thin black and clay-ground stripes alternate. The middle ornamental bands begin with a wide strip in which there are several wavy bands and eight-pointed stars. Above it are two zigzag bands, each divided by three black and clay-ground stripes. The central diagram is shown between these ornamental bands and the short neck: two strongly stylized horses shown in silhouettes face each other frontally. A swastika is shown under the horse on the left and a cross under the picture on the right. A stylized tripod flanked by lattice ribbons and stars is shown between them . St. Andrew's crosses are shown to the side between the bow handles and the meander strips that border the horse zone . The painting is rubbed off in many places - even on larger areas. The drawings were made with black-brown varnish. The crater is found in the second half of the 8th century BC. Dated.
literature
- Fulvio Canciani: Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum Germany Volume 27, Heidelberg Volume 3. CH Beck, Munich 1966, pp. 56-57 / plate 117.
