Athenian Loutrophoros for Phanodemos

Athenian Loutrophoros for Phanodemos

Marble

A large, roughly oval fragment from the body of a marble funerary <em>loutrophoros </em>(water carrier). At the top is a small segment of the neck of the vase. The body is decorated with a mourning scene, carved in relief. A bearded man, seated on a high-backed chair, shakes hands with a young man who stands before him. The handshake or dexiosis is a gesture of farewell, commonly found in mourning scenes. A young child stands behind the young man and a mourning woman stands beside the seated man. The deceased in this family group is probably the young man since loutrophoroi, vases associated with marriage ritual, were often used to mark the graces of young, unmarried people. There is an inscription at the top left of the scene that reads: <br />"Φανοδήμος | Παράμονο(υ) | Αίθαλίδοις" <br />"Phanodemos, the son of Paramonos, of the Deme of Aithalidai"<br />The Pentelic marble has weathered to a golden colour on the surface; it is white underneath as various scratches and chips reveal.

Athenian

Purchased from Sotheby and Co. with funds from the University of Queensland Alumni Association donated by Mrs Betty Fletcher on the occasion of the University of Queensland's 75th Anniversary, 1986

400 - 375 BC

670 mm x 370 mm

86.097