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Details / Information for Lebes

Lebes

c. 480–460 BCE

Greece

Medium
bronze
Measurements
Overall: 25.4 cm (10 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1928.857
Public Domain
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Location
102B Greek
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Did You Know?

The green surface found on old bronze is a corrosion product formed when copper in the metal reacts to carbon dioxide and water.

Description

This bronze cauldron has a ring base with three spool feet. Appliqués shaped like birds with the heads of women decorate the shoulder on either side of the vessel. Two handles are fastened to loops on the top of each creature’s wings. The bird-women may represent sirens, mythical creatures that lured sailors with their singing, or harpies, wind spirits that stole food from the starving.
A bronze vessel with a bulbous body is enveloped in a thick, mottled greenish-blue patina with dark gray and brown patches. Two thick ring handles rest flat against the narrow rim, joined to the shoulder by decorative, fan-shaped leaf designs pointing downward. The textured, oxidized surface tapers toward the base, where the vessel stands on three small, rounded feet.

Lebes

c. 480–460 BCE

Greece

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