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f - The American School of Classical Studies at Athens

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Levantine art30 <strong>at</strong> least as early as the second half <strong>of</strong><br />

the 9th century B.C.3" and presumably origin<strong>at</strong>ing in<br />

metalwork, the guilloche by the 7th century B.C. had<br />

already become one <strong>of</strong> the most common ornamental<br />

motifs used to frame decor<strong>at</strong>ed fields and to define or<br />

go with the borders <strong>of</strong> large circular areas on many<br />

classes <strong>of</strong> objects.32 <strong>The</strong> guilloche enjoyed a long period<br />

<strong>of</strong> popularity and underwent few stylistic<br />

changes.33 In fact, it was so widely diffused during<br />

the Archaic period th<strong>at</strong> it is r<strong>at</strong>her difficult to specify<br />

a d<strong>at</strong>e for our 12. <strong>The</strong> rim's shape points to the 6th<br />

century B.C., because <strong>of</strong> the vigorous plasticity <strong>of</strong> the<br />

relief and because <strong>of</strong> the metallic ne<strong>at</strong>ness <strong>of</strong> the<br />

edges which is also evident in the colored portions,34<br />

as well as for the extreme accuracy in painting the<br />

little spaces between the guilloche and the bordering<br />

ridges. Similar concisely composed and ne<strong>at</strong>ly executed<br />

guilloches formed by perfectly circular elements<br />

are found on bronze shields from Olympia,<br />

d<strong>at</strong>ed to the 7th century B.C. This comparison leads<br />

us to raise the d<strong>at</strong>e <strong>of</strong> 12 to the beginning <strong>of</strong> the 6th<br />

century B.C.35 This decor<strong>at</strong>ive motif must have been<br />

CORINTHIAN BASINS ON HIGH STANDS 365<br />

fairly widespread in the Corinthian ornamental rep-<br />

ertoire. Several architectural terracottas from Cor-<br />

inth which <strong>of</strong>fer us an equally precise painted ver-<br />

sion <strong>of</strong> the guilloche likewise d<strong>at</strong>e r<strong>at</strong>her early in the<br />

6th century B.c.36<br />

600-550 B.C.<br />

13. Bowl fragment Fig. 1, P1. 64<br />

KP 1415. H. 0.074, W. 0.138, est. D. 0.525, Th.<br />

0.011. Handle: H. 0.035, L. 0.02. Stamp: D. 0.02.<br />

Weinberg, 1954, pp. 127, 133, pl. 30:c; Ander-<br />

son, p. 90, no. 92; Corinth XV, iii, no. 2161,<br />

p. 348, pl. 76.<br />

Slightly impure, reddish yellow clay (7.5YR<br />

7/6) with predominantly red inclusions; same<br />

reddish yellow slip. A small part <strong>of</strong> the original<br />

circumference is preserved; eroded surface with<br />

extensive traces <strong>of</strong> scorching. Fresh m<strong>at</strong>rix.<br />

Overhanging, thickened rim with slightly convex top<br />

slanting outwards; oblique underside with a small<br />

appendage. Along the nearly vertical side <strong>of</strong> the rim<br />

run six ridges <strong>of</strong> various heights, interrupted by an<br />

30 For the guilloche in oriental art, see J. A. H. Portr<strong>at</strong>z, "Das Flechtband. Eine altvorderasi<strong>at</strong>ische Lig<strong>at</strong>ur,"<br />

OA 3, 1964, pp. 175-200.<br />

31 Cf. the golden pendant from Teke (Knossos) in the Herakleion Museum, J. Boardman, <strong>The</strong> Greeks<br />

Overseas, London 1980, pp. 56-57, fig. 23.<br />

32 F. Canciani, Bronzi orientali e orientalizzanti a Creta nell'VIII e VII sec. a.C., Rome 1970, pp. 57-58.<br />

For the diffusion <strong>of</strong> the motif in the colonies, see N. Allegro, "Louteria a rilievo da Himera," Quaderno Imerese<br />

2, 1982 (pp. 151-166), pp. 152-153; Xkerstrom (footnote 16 above), passim. For the motif's diffusion in<br />

Etruria, see F. Johansen, "Etruskiske broncerelieffer i Glyptoteket," Meddelelserfra Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek,<br />

Copenhagen 1979, pp. 67-87, figs. 1-3, 7-16, and 20.<br />

3 For an example <strong>of</strong> mosaic flooring from the triclinium <strong>of</strong> the Palace <strong>of</strong> <strong>The</strong>odoric in Ravenna, d<strong>at</strong>ed to<br />

the first quarter <strong>of</strong> the 6th century after Christ, see F. Berti, Mosaici antichi in Italia: Ravenna I, Rome 1976,<br />

pl. 51, no. 60.<br />

34<strong>The</strong> peculiarity <strong>of</strong> the marked edges is already present on an enameled Assyrian orthost<strong>at</strong>e in the British<br />

Museum, from the age <strong>of</strong> either Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 B.C.) or Tigl<strong>at</strong>h-Pileser III (743-727 B.C.), Portr<strong>at</strong>z<br />

(footnote 30 above), p. 193, fig. 5, no. 3. As such, the motif is diffused during the Archaic period on<br />

architectural terracottas, on arm-bands and borders <strong>of</strong> shields in bronze lamin<strong>at</strong>e, on metal p<strong>at</strong>erae, on ceramic<br />

products, etc. It is found in l<strong>at</strong>er periods in mosaics, where it seems to have found its widest applic<strong>at</strong>ion.<br />

Among the 6th-century examples which are most similar to 12, cf. the Chalcidian helmet in St. Louis (City<br />

Art Museum, inv. no. 282.49): E. Kunze, "Helme," OlBer 8,1958-1962, pp. 163 and 174-175, figs. 63, 64. A<br />

very similar guilloche, but more fl<strong>at</strong>tened, is found on a basin ring from Delphi, which also carries a lug<br />

handle flanked by a palmette: R. Demangel, FdD II, ii, Le sanctuaire d'Athena Pronaia. Les temples de tuf,<br />

Paris 1926, p. 104, fig. 115:6.<br />

3' E. Kunze, "Schieldbeschlage," OlBer 5, 1941-1952, pp. 44-45, figs. 23, 24, pl. 11.<br />

36 Corinth IV, i, pp. 104-105, 108, 110, T(iles) nos. 42-44, 50, 51, 112, 126, 131, fig. 43; see also pp. 57-<br />

58, A(ntefixes) nos. 101,101 a, fig. 1, in which all the bands <strong>of</strong> the guilloche are black with light edges.

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