Side B: warrior

Lid: panther

Side A: head of warrior

Lid: panther

Side B: inscription above charioteer

Side A: inscription at left

Collection: Toledo Museum of Art
Summary: Sides A and B: four-horse chariot with wheels to rightLid: animal frieze
Ware: Attic Black Figure
Painter: Attributed to Group E
Potter: Signed by Exekias
Date: ca. 530 BC
Dimensions:

H. with lid (restored) 0.462 m., h. to rim 0.394 m., d. rim 0.186 m., d. 0.276 m., d. foot 0.147 m., h. lid (restored) 0.079 m., d. lid 0.188 m.
Shape: Panel amphora
Period: High Archaic

Decoration Description:

Side A: four-horse chariot with wheels to the right. A warrior and driver are visible in the chariot. The warrior carries a circular shield over his shoulder and holds a spear. He is wearing an Attic helmet pulled down over his face, a chitoniskos and corslet. The driver is wearing a chiton, nebris and pilos. The reins are in his left hand, a goad in his right. At his back, secured by a white strap, is a Boeotian shield. The pole horses face front, while the trace horses turn in profile. All the horses have decorated breastbands; all except the right trace horse wear top knots. Foreshortening is used for the chariot wheels.

Added white is used for the driver's baldric and dots on the foreheads of the pole horses. A small dent fired in red appears on the driver's chest and wrist. At the top of the panel is a double palmette and lotus chain, with dilute glaze lines below and at the sides. The potter's signature appears in retrograde on the panel, as do the horses' names and a further inscription.

Side B: four-horse chariot with wheels to the right. The scene is almost identical to side A, except that the warrior is leaning forward, a crescent shape appears on the driver's hat, and the driver's beard is drawn in less detail. Also the horses are more uniform in appearance, with no added white on the pole horses and topknots on all four animals. Addorsed lotuses and palmettes alternate across the top of the panel, and the same dilute lines appear at the sides and below. Only the warrior's name is inscribed in retrograde on this side. The right trace horse's tail is cut off at the stump on this panel.

Just beneath the panels run two bands of added red. Around the base are rays, and there is a glazed band just above the intersection of foot with body. The underside of the foot is reserved. The echinus foot is mostly glazed; only its lower edge is reserved. The mouth's upper surface is reserved, and the interior is glazed to 0.045 m. depth.

The knob on the lid is missing, as well as a small section of the rim. These parts are restored in painted wood and painted plaster. The lid decoration consists of plain bands, dot bands and ray bands, and an animal frieze. Here stags alternate with male panthers and one female. The center of the lid is slightly convex. A profiled offset separates the outer edge from the dome portion. The underside is reserved.

Shape Description:

Panel amphora with lid.

Inscriptions:

On side A, the words *E*X*E*K*I*A*S *E*P*O*I*E*S*E (Exekias made it), *S*T*E*S*I*A*S *K*A*L*O*S (Stesias is beautiful), *K*A*L*I*F*O*R*A*S, and *P*U*R*I*X*O*S (the horses' names) are inscribed in retrograde. On side B, the warrior's name, *A*N*X*I*P*O*S appears in retrograde.

Sources Used:

CVA, USA fasc. 20, pp. 10-11, pls. 81-83

Other Bibliography:

Luckner, K. 1980, in The Museum Collects: Treasures by Sculptors and Craftsmen, Dec. 7, 1980-Jan. 25, 1981, Toledo, pp. 8-9; Ebertshäuser, H. C. and Waltz, M., 1981, Antiken I, Vasen-Bronzen-Terrakotten des klassischen Altertums, p. 81, fig. 94; Bell, E., 1983, An Exekian Puzzle in Portland: Further Light on the Relationship between Exekias and Group E, in Moon 1983, pp. 82-85 and figs. 5.2a-5.2 d.