Skip navigation
Alabastron with a siren, H507

Explanation

  • The drop-shaped scent bottle, a so-called alabastron, is decorated with a siren with her wings outstretched. The fabulous beast, which is a mixture of bird and woman, came originally from Egypt. However, in the early Archaic period (6th century BC), the siren along with several other Oriental figures was adopted into the Greek world of motifs. The influence from the Near East can also be seen in the flower ornaments decorating the rest of the vase. The pale clay indicates that the scent bottle stems from Corinth, which in the 6th century BC and the beginning of the 5th century BC was a major producer of figure-decorated ceramics. The vase painter who decorated the scent bottle has not yet been identified. However, one vase in the Louvre in Paris, one in the museum on the Greek island of Delos and one on the art market in New York were undoubtedly decorated by the same artist.