The interior painted dark brown with three reserved bands and a reserved circle in the centre of the bowl. The exterior with geometric decoration of panels with hatched swastikas, lozenge stars, and rosettes with hatched triangles at the interstices, a chequerboard pattern separating each panel, the lower part of the body painted with hatched dog’s teeth, and the handles with eight-pointed stars.

This vase is probably roughly contemporary with the composition of the Iliad. The Geometric style differed markedly from the more fluid, naturalistic designs of Mycenaean Greek pottery, but had been preceded by the intermediate Proto-Geometric style, where much more of the vase was left plain, and which was similar to some of the Cypriot pottery in this collection. The all-over geometric decoration of this bowl is typical of the pottery made in Athens in the 9th and 8th centuries BC. The designs were perhaps inspired by the patterns of woven fabrics or wickerwork. Many high-rimmed bowls like this one have been found in Athenian tombs from the late 8th century.

Literature: R. Foster, Winchester College Treasury: a guide to the collections (Winchester, 2016), p. 45; J. Falconer and T. Mannack, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum: Great Britain, Fascicule 19: Winchester College (Oxford, 2002), p. 1, plate 1.1-2; Winchester College Memorial Buildings: Department of Classical Art (Winchester, 1909), p. 15 (no. 21)

Provenance: From Athens, at Winchester College by 1909

Location: Treasury, Gallery 3