Terracotta loutrophoros (ceremonial vase for water)

On the body, obverse, woman with attendant in naiskos (shrine) flanked by youth and women

Reverse, woman in naiskos flanked by youths and women

On the shoulder, obverse, Eros with alabastron and mirror within foliage

Reverse, head of a woman within foliage

This imposing and beautifully executed vase, together with its counterpart exhibited here, is of exceptional interest for the architectural structure on the obverse. A small naiskos, rendered with three columns, encloses a woman, her maid who holds out a small casket, and a metal loutrophoros. Between the level on which they stand and the podium for the shrine are two panels with a pair of confronted lions. The podium itself consists of an upper frieze of triglyphs, alternating with metopes showing Greeks fighting Amazons. The lower element is covered with tendrils enclosing a female head. Although naiskoi are common on Apulian vases, the complexity and elaboration here are unusual. The unresolved question is to what extent the representation reflects actual funerary structures and the limestone reliefs

familiar especially from Tarentum.

Credit: Purchase, The Bernard and Audrey Aronson Charitable Trust Gift, in memory of her beloved husband, Bernard Aronson, 1995