Side A: head of charioteer in rear

Side B: oblique from right

Side B: head of charioteer in rear

Side A: charioteer in rear

Side A: charioteer in front

Neck: floral decoration

Collection: Cambridge, Harvard University Art Museums
Summary: A chariot race
Ware: Attic Black Figure
Painter: Attributed to the Leagros Group
Date: ca. 510 BC - ca. 500 BC
Dimensions:

H. 0.376 m.; D. 0.25 m.
Primary Citation: ABV, 373, 182.
Shape: Neck amphora
Beazley Number: 302177
Period: Late Archaic

Condition:

Broken and repaired, with repainting of cracks and narrow gaps. Much of the added white has worn away.

Decoration Description:

A chariot race, with four quadrigas running around the vase to right. On each side, two teams of horses dominate the center and right side, while the charioteers are at the left. In each case, the farther team, in the background, is ahead of the team in the foreground. Within each team, the overlapping heads and bodies of the two nearer horses are slightly in front of the two farther ones. As usual in such a scene, all of the forelegs of the horses are elevated in an impossible but elegant fan-like arrangement. On each side, there is a turning post in the background beyond the farther team, painted with added white. All of the charioteers wear long white chitons and have red beards and red fillets in their hair. The horses have red manes and tails and red breast-bands. The chariot-boxes are decorated with red stripes and have red poles and yokes. One of the charioteers is crouched low to fit under a handle of the vase; his body is overlapped by the forelegs of the leading team on the others die. Two of the charioteers carry goads and all four hold tightly to the reins.

The groundline below the figures is a single, continuous black stripe. Below this, framed by double stripes, is a band of lotus-buds, pointing upward. Below this, at the base, a zone of rays. Lotus-palmette chain on either side of the neck, with no use of incision. Red fillet between neck and body, and below this on either side, a band of tongues. Mouth black inside and out; top reserved. Red fillet between foot and lower body. Foot black. Handles black outside, reserved underneath.

Shape Description:

The shape is canonical for a late 6th-century Attic neck-amphora. Fabric Descr:

Material Description:

Clay red.

Collection History:

Formerly in C. E. Norton collection.

Sources Used:

CVA, Fogg-Gallatin.

Other Bibliography:

CVA, Fogg-Gallatin, USA 8, 26, pl. 8, 2.