Apulian Red-Figure Krater with Mascarons

A: within a naiskos, a woman seated to left on a stylized pile of rocks in white with black centers. She wears a short-sleeved, unbelted chiton of fine material, shoes, and a kekryphalos with a bunch of hair at the back of her head. A mantle edged in red is draped behind her and across her lower body. A ball is suspended on a string from her right hand, which also holds a large, elaborately decorated cista; in her left hand is a wreath. A white fillet hangs in the upper right corner. The ceiling beams of the naiskos are outlined with white; its base is decorated with a white key pattern on a reserved background bordered by bands of black. Outside the naiskos, to left, a woman stands bending forward to right with her left foot on a rock pile, a situla with white figural decoration in her left hand, and a mirror in her right. On the other side stands a youth wearing a fillet and holding a large, long-handled patera. A cloak covers most of his left arm. A long, slender staff is grasped in the drapery-covered hand. In the field below is a fillet, and in each upper corner, a window.

B: woman and youth at a stele, the shaft of which is reserved with bands of white: at the top, a broad band, a narrow one, a row of dots, two narrow bands; at the bottom, two narrow bands. The stele stands on a base decorated with a small white scroll pattern with white dots on a reserved background. A white fillet on the front of the stele is looped through a large black one. On the left is a woman bending forward, holding in her right hand a long-handled patera and in her left, a tambourine. The youth wears a fillet and holds a similar patera in his right hand; his left arm is mostly covered with a cloak and the hand grasps a white stick. In front of him in the field is a fillet. In each upper corner is a reserved window outlined in white, with a black center.

The krater has a broad mouth, with an overhanging lip in two degrees; fillet at join of mouth to neck; concave neck, with upper part slightly offset; sloping shoulder; ovoid body. High volute handles, flanged in section, above vertical loop handles; on the volutes, plastic masks; plastic swan heads at join to shoulder. Pedestal foot with edge in three degrees and with narrow indented band at join to body.

A, side of lip: egg pattern; under lip: wave; bead and reel in added white. Neck: between reserved bands, eight rosettes with dot clusters; below, head of a woman in added white, in profile to left and gazing upward, springs from flower flanked by spiraling tendrils, buds, and flowers shown in red, white, and different shades of yellow. She wears a kekryphalos and a beaded necklace. Shoulder: tongues between black stripes; egg pattern between reserved bands.

B, side of lip: egg pattern; under lip: wave. Neck: berried laurel pattern between two reserved bands; large palmette-fan with side scrolls and fans. Shoulder: tongues; below, egg pattern between narrow reserved bands.

Around vase, below pictures: meander pattern interrupted by saltire squares except beneath handle-palmette, where the square is hollow with a dotted center.

Handle-medallions: A, diademed female heads in white, with hair and facial details in dilute glaze. B, female heads with red faces, hair and details in black; diadem has six black dots on red band.

After Jentoft-Nilsen, M. R. and Trendall, A.D., CVA Malibu 3 (1990).