Saturday 12 July 2008

The Bronze Krater said to be from Pieria, Greece

Further brief reports on the return of two antiquities from the Shelby White collection to Greece have appeared today ("US collector to return two ancient artifacts", Kathimerini, July 12, 2008; Julie Bloom, "Collector to Return Antiquities to Greece", New York Times, July 12, 2008; "New York Collector to Return 2 Antiquities to Greece", New York Times, July 12, 2008). One of the NYT pieces notes that the second object
is a bronze calyx krater dating from around 340 B.C. Greek archaeologists believe it was probably found in illegal excavations in a royal tomb near where it originated in Pieria in northern Greece.
Beryl Barr-Sharrar (The Derveni Krater: Masterpiece of Classical Greek Metalwork, ASCSA 2007, p. 98, fig. 89 [Googlebooks] [post]) illustrates a bronze calyx-krater found in 1986 by M. Bessios at Sevaste in Pieria (and now in the Archaeological Museum at Thessaloniki; see also I. Vokotopoulou, "The Kalyx Krater of Sevaste in Pieria", in I. Worthington (ed.), Ventures into Greek History, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994, pp. 189-201 [BMCR]).

A bronze calyx-krater in the Shelby White & Leon Levy collection appeared in a catalogue of Greek bronze vessels from the collection of Shelby White & Leon Levy (2005), no. 9 (for illustration see McLung Museum exhibition, "History contained: ancient Greek bronze and ceramic vessels", September 17, 2005 - January 2, 2006). The entry for the White/Levy calyx-krater states:
The best stylistic parallels for the White/Levy krater may be found in examples associated with the Macedonian court.
Its previous history is unstated; its first mention in a publication comes from 1998.

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