Octopus Cup

Object/Artifact

-

Museum of Antiquities - University of Saskatchewan

Front Side of Object: 2015-00-00
Front Side of Object

2015-00-00

Name/Title

Octopus Cup

Entry/Object ID

04A0289

Description

Bronze cup with two handles attached from the rim to the round shoulders. The body is round in the middle, angling off at the bottom to form a smaller base. An octopus is depicted swimming diagonally with tentacles, rocks, and shells filling most of the empty spaces.

Use

Vessel

Context

A preference for marine subjects on wall frescoes was evident in the Middle Minoan III period at Knossos, Crete. This subject matter had little influence on vase painting until the Late Minoan 1B phase, though it is evidenced on other media such as exquisite steatite vessels dating to the Middle Minoan III period. In line with the intaglios and reliefs executed on these steatite vessels come various marine designs taken over into repousse metalwork, as seen on this bronze vessel.

Made/Created

Date made

2200 BCE - 1500 BCE

Time Period

Bronze Age

Ethnography

Culture/Tribe

Greek - Minoan

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Overall

Height

10 cm

Diameter

13 cm

Material

Resin

Research Notes

Research Type

Reference

Notes

Betancourt, Philip. History of Minoan Pottery. Princeton: University Press, 1985. Public: No

Research Type

Reference

Notes

Mountjoy, P.A. "A Later Developmnt in the Late Minoan 1B Marine Style." The Annual of the British School at Athens 69 (1974): 177. Public: No

Research Type

Reference

Notes

Mountjoy, P.A. "A Later Developmnt in the Late Minoan 1B Marine Style." The Annual of the British School at Athens 69 (1974): 177. Public: No

Research Type

Reference

Notes

Higgins, Reynold. Minoan and Mycenaean Art. NY: Frederick A Praeger, 1967. Public: No

Research Type

Reference

Notes

Evans, Sir Arthur. The Palace of Minos (volume 1: Part II). London: Hafner, 1964. 632-647. Public: No

Research Type

Reference

Notes

Pedley, John Griffiths. Greek Art and Archaeology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2007. 78. Public: No

Research Type

Reference

Notes

Matz, Friedrich. The Art of Crete and Early Greece. NEw York: Crown Publishers, 1965. 144, 149. Public: No