The Macmillan aryballos is a Protocorinthian pottery

aryballos An aryballos (Greek: ἀρύβαλλος; plural aryballoi) was a small spherical or globular flask with a narrow neck used in Ancient Greece."aryballos" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., ...

in the collection of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Dating to about 640 BC, it is 6.9 cm high and 3.9 cm in diameter, and weighs 65 grams. The vase is attributed to the Chigi Painter. Its provenance is uncertain: Cecil Smith reported that it was acquired by Malcolm Macmillan at Thebes, and suggests that it was originally found in a tomb outside the town; but the British Museum Register records it as having been acquired by Macmillan in

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...

. It was gifted to the British Museum by Macmillan in 1889. The vase is made out of a yellow coloured clay, and painted in shades of brown and purple. Fine details are incised into the clay. The upper part of the vase is in the shape of a lion's head, which appears to have been modelled rather than cast from a mould. The vase is painted with a floral chain at the shoulder, three bands of figurative decorations, and rays at the base. The top band is 2 cm high, and painted with a scene of eighteen warriors engaged in combat. Unlike on the

Chigi vase The Chigi vase is a Proto-Corinthian '' olpe'', or pitcher, that is the name vase of the Chigi Painter. It was found in an Etruscan tomb at Monte Aguzzo, near Veio, on Prince Mario Chigi’s estate in 1881. The vase has been variously assigned to ...

, another work by the same artist, where two

phalanx The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly use ...

es are depicted, the Macmillan aryballos shows

hoplite Hoplites ( ) ( grc, ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Polis, city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with ...

s engaged in single combat. It stretches all the way around the aryballos, and has no clear beginning or end. Each warrior wears a crested helmet and

greave A greave (from the Old French ''greve'' "shin, shin armour") or jambeau is a piece of armour that protects the leg. Description The primary purpose of greaves is to protect the tibia from attack. The tibia, or shinbone, is very close to the skin ...

s, carries a round shield (each of which is decorated with a different device), and is armed with one or two spears. The army coming from the right-hand side is depicted as victorious; the soldiers coming from the left are defeated. The second band is 1 cm high and depicts a horse race, with six horses galloping from right to left. Beneath one of these horses there is a swan and a crouching figure, possibly an ape. The third band is 4 mm high and is decorated with a hunting scene, in which a hunter and hounds chase a hare and a fox or jackal. File:Macmillan aryballos at the British Museum - Denis Bourez.jpg, Macmillan aryballos on display in the British Museum File:Aryballos Macmillan.JPG, Diagram of the decoration of the Macmillan aryballos File:Chigi vase detail.jpg, Detail of the Chigi Vase, another vase by the same artist depicting warriors in battle

Notes

References

Works cited

* * * * * * {{cite journal , last=Smith , first=Cecil , journal=Journal of Hellenic Studies , title=A Protokorinthian Lekythos in the British Museum , year=1890 , volume=11 7th-century BC works Ancient Greek and Roman objects in the British Museum Individual ancient Greek vases