Cycladic handle (Karlsruhe 75/11)

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The handle shell (formerly Karlsruhe, Badisches Landesmuseum, inventory number 75/11) is an elaborately decorated stone vessel of the Bronze Age Cycladic culture . It is found in the early Cycladic period between the 27th and the 24th centuries BC. Chr. (FK II) dated. The location is unknown; as the origin is Cyclades -Insel Naxos adopted. The vessel from a robbery excavation was acquired by the Badisches Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe in 1975 and returned to Greece on June 6, 2014 in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens .

description

Decorated back of the handle made of chlorite slate, FK II

The handle shell consists of a round shell with a diameter of 17.5 cm and a depth of 2.8 cm. A handle with a segment of a circle protrudes 2.2 cm. It is made of greenish chlorite slate , the material occurs on the Cyclades on Naxos.

The front with the flat base and the recessed, narrow edge is unadorned, the back of the maximum 1.2 cm thick base makes the object extraordinary. The base, including the handle, is framed with a notch pattern. The surface is filled with a pattern of interwoven spirals. Seven double strands emanate from a central spiral, each twisting into a smaller spiral. These are also connected by double strands with their two neighbors and with three of a total of fourteen smaller spirals at the edge. The edge spirals are formed from three or four double strands, depending on whether they are connected to their two neighbors and one or two of the central spirals. In the handle, double and triple strands together with triangular areas form a cross pattern.

The surface of the shell is a bit weathered, it is minimally chipped and has some scratches. Sinter stains have been preserved on the inside, while a thick sintered layer has been removed from the decorated back in modern times and the pattern exposed.

Lid pyxis with a comparable spiral pattern, Antikensammlung Berlin

Patterns with intertwined spirals are often carved into clay vessels in the Cycladic culture, but they are rare and only known from a few vessels, especially pyxides . Among them is a specimen from an excavation on the island of Amorgos , which was acquired in 1889 by Georg Ferdinand Dümmler for the Berlin Collection of Antiquities . Due to the quality of the work and the very precisely constructed pattern, an experienced and particularly skilled artist can be assumed. The bowl must also have been an outstanding prestige object for the owner.

In the Keros-Syros phase of the Bronze Age Cycladic culture, to which this piece is also assigned, handle scales made of clay are widespread. In addition, a few are known to be made of marble. Only one other, however undecorated specimen is known from stone, which was first described by Nikolaos M. Kontoleon in 1972. This handle shell is unique in terms of material and design and is regarded as a “masterpiece of Cycladic art”.

The use and meaning of the Cycladic handle scales, often also referred to as Cycladic pans, are unclear. They are mainly known as grave goods, especially from rich burials. Christos Tsountas originally suggested that they were mirrors. The shallow bowls were filled with water and formed a reflective layer of water against the dark floor. Practical experiments speak against this use, water does not produce an adequate mirror effect, (olive) oil would be suitable, but in the early Cycladic culture presumably too rare and expensive for this purpose. On the basis of several finds in the cemetery of Chalandriani on the island of Syros together with small vessels made of clay and bone with paint residues, Nikolaos M. Kontoleon assumed that it could be a painter's palette for applying paints from ground pigments . Almost without exception, the decors on the bowls have motifs related to water. Spirals, ships and stars are typical. Handle shells made of clay often have two handles, then these are pulled out of the body and the pattern of a female pubic is often carved into this triangular field. The use as a donation vessel for a libation in the context of a fertility cult is derived from this; Sea, sun and the feminine principle are seen as symbols of the fertility of the soil and the sea, which were indispensable for people's lives. Another thesis was put forward in 1993 by Christos Doumas , who assumes that sea salt was condensed into salt cake in the bowls . These were used as merchandise or payment units. Doumas takes up the questions that are connected with trade and the exchange of goods before the establishment of money. Salt is believed to be possible as a unit because no durable materials have been found in archaeological investigations.

Provenance

In the run-up to the “Art of the Cyclades” exhibition, which was being prepared for 1976 , the then curator of the Badisches Landesmuseum Jürgen Thimme acquired the handle shell for 35,000 marks in 1975 together with the female Cycladic idol with crossed arms (75/49) and other artifacts through the art trade. The bowl did not come from an official excavation, the seller assured that the object had been purchased before 1970, but presented no evidence and remained anonymous. An illegal excavation violated Greek law in any case, the object could only by smuggling have been out of the country. If it had been originally acquired before 1970, the UNESCO Convention on Measures to Prohibit and Prevent the Inadmissible Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property from 1970 and thus international law would not have been violated. In addition, the Federal Republic of Germany only signed the agreement in 2007.

The exhibition in Karlsruhe Palace in 1976 showed what was by far the most extensive collection of objects from the Cycladic culture . In accordance with the prevailing view in museum circles at the time, and with the patronage of the International Council of Museums , the loans from international museums and a large number of private collections were exhibited regardless of the origin of the pieces. The handle shell was also exhibited and dealt with in detail in the catalog. The Greek antiquities authorities discussed this attitude publicly for the first time on the occasion of the planned exhibition and therefore did not make any exhibits from state collections available for the exhibition. However, the then head of the Antiquities Authority for the Cyclades, Christos Doumas , wrote the chapter on the archaeological research of the Cycladic culture in the catalog of the exhibition and referred to the robbery excavations there.

After the Federal Republic of Germany joined the UNESCO Agreement in 2007, museums and in particular the Badisches Landesmuseum addressed the problem. At the second major international exhibition Cyclades - Living Worlds of an Early Greek Culture , the State Museum explicitly addressed the provenance of the exhibits in 2011 and only showed objects from national and international collections that revealed the origin of the pieces. This time, no exhibits from private collections were used. The handle shell was also shown in this exhibition and highlighted in the catalog. The Greek authorities were not satisfied with the way the problem was handled and again refused to loan them.

Extensive negotiations followed, and on June 6, 2014, the handle shell and the female Cycladic Idol 75/49 were transferred to the National Archaeological Museum in by the State Secretary in the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Art Jürgen Walter and the Museum Director of the Badisches Landesmuseum Harald Siebenmorgen Athens handed over in the presence of the Greek Minister of Culture Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos . The current market value of the handle is estimated to be in the six-digit euro range.

literature

  • Jürgen Thimme (Hrsg.): Art and culture of the Cyclades islands in the 3rd millennium before Christ . CF Müller, Karlsruhe, 1976, ISBN 3-7880-9568-7 , pp. 338, 517; No. 364 .
  • John E. Coleman, "Frying Pans" of the Early Bronze Age Aegean . In: American Journal of Archeology . tape 89 , no. 2 , 1985, pp. 191-219 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Claus Hattler (ed.): Cyclades - the worlds of an early Greek culture . Primus Verlag, Darmstadt 2011, ISBN 978-3-86312-016-0 , p. 307.
  2. ↑ a b c Jürgen Thimme (ed.): Art and culture of the Cyclades islands in the 3rd millennium before Christ. CF Müller 1976, ISBN 3-7880-9568-7 , p. 517.
  3. ^ National Museums in Berlin, Collection of Antiquities, Inv. Misc. 8102 (link to the digital collection of the Berlin State Museums with picture)
  4. ↑ a b c Pat Getz-Preziosi: Early Cycladic stone vessels . In: Jürgen Thimme (Ed.): Art and Culture of the Cyclades Islands in the 3rd Millennium BC. CF Müller, Karlsruhe 1976, ISBN 3-7880-9568-7 , pp. 97-110, 102.
  5. ^ John E. Coleman, "Frying Pans" of the Early Bronze Age Aegean . In: American Journal of Archeology . tape 89 , no. 2 , 1985, pp. 211 .
  6. ↑ a b c Bernhard Steinmann: Mirror or donation bowl? . In: Claus Hattler (Ed.): Cyclades - Worlds of Life in an Early Greek Culture . Primus Verlag, Darmstadt 2011, ISBN 978-3-86312-016-0 , pp. 100-107.
  7. ↑ Südwestrundfunk: Criminal Archeology: Why almost the entire trade in ancient art is illegal . SWR2 Context, broadcast on June 6, 2014.
  8. ^ Ernst Petrasch : About the exhibition . In: Thimme 1976 p. 6
  9. ↑ Christos Doumas: The archaeological exploration of the early Bronze Age on the Cyclades . In: Jürgen Thimme (Ed.): Art and Culture of the Cyclades Islands in the 3rd Millennium BC . CF Müller, Karlsruhe 1976, ISBN 3-7880-9568-7 , pp. 190-197.
  10. ↑ Harald Siebenmorgen: Foreword . In: Claus Hattler (Ed.): Cyclades - Worlds of Life in an Early Greek Culture . Primus Verlag 2011, ISBN 978-3-86312-016-0 , pages 6-9, 7.
  11. ↑ Press release: Return of looted grave art to the Greek Ministry of Science, Research and Art, Baden-Württemberg, June 6, 2014