Reddish-brown clay covered with a buff slip. The exterior decorated with a band of paint around the base, out of which rise reeds or grasses. A small, slightly off-centre, hole in the base of the bowl.

A complete vessel of a very similar design is in the Metropolitan Museum. The elegant and naturalistic painting of plants and animals is a common feature of Aegean art in this period. This type of vessel, when painted, usually has a hole in the base. This indicates that it was intended for making sacred libations, though it has been suggested that they might have served as drinking vessels – with a finger used to cover the hole.

Provenance

Excavated at Phylakopi, Melos, c. 1899; Thomas Dinham Atkinson (1864–1948), by whom bequeathed to Winchester College in 1948.