The name (Kalathos) of this type of vessel indicates a recipient in the shape of a basket. This type of vessel became popular in the last phase of the Mycenaean era, during the 12th century B.C. . The lip of this kind of vase is sometimes enhanced by having a spout, miniature statuettes or vases, which would attest to these vessels being used in a ritual or funerary function.

This particular vase features a sinuous profile, a long spout located in between two semi-circular side handles. It is decorated with horizontal lines of varying width, painted in red and brown, and of series of loops semi-circles, traced hastily on the upper part of the outside rim. On the lip itself, a continuous series of small triangular motifs, rendered in a stylized way, reminds us of a shale motif already known to ornate Mycenaean ceramics.

Bibliography

Exhibition catalogue: “The Mycenean World, NAtional Archaeological Museum”, Athens, 1988, pp. 164-165, nos. 124 and p. 201, no. 177 for similar.