Detail of an Amphora Attributed to the Manner of Lydos in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2011

Title: Terracotta amphora (jar)

Medium; Technique: Terracotta; black-figure

Culture: Greek, Attic

Period: Archaic

Date: ca. 540 B.C.

Artist or Maker: Attributed to the manner of Lydos

Dimensions: H. 21 15/16 in. (55.7 cm) diameter of mouth 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm) diameter of foot 7 7/8 in. (20 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1951

Accession Number: 51.11.3


Description:
Obverse and reverse, horseman

Lydos favored placing one or two horsemen in a panel on the dark, imposing shape of an amphora. This conceit, a refinement of the earlier horse-head amphorae, was adopted by artists associated with him. The graffito on the lip (HI) is not a friendly American greeting. It may possibly be the beginning of a dedication or it may have some commercial significance, the usual function of such inscriptions.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/greek_...