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Terracotta "basket vase"

ca. 1400–1300 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 151
This unusual vase presents an ingenious solution to the problem of keeping a container and its cover together. Some scholars have suggested the model derives from basketry, but the complex composition more likely imitates metal prototypes. Lidded vessels rarely occur in the Mycenaean repertoire. Those with known findspots come primarily from mainland Greece and the island of Rhodes.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta "basket vase"
  • Period: Late Helladic IIIA
  • Date: ca. 1400–1300 BCE
  • Culture: Helladic, Mycenaean
  • Medium: Terracotta
  • Dimensions: total H. 10 5/8 in. (27 cm)
  • Classification: Vases
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1906
  • Object Number: 06.1021.3a, b
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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