Stamnos

The Greek word {{Transliteration|grc|stamnos}} (and its diminutive {{Transliteration|grc|stamnion}}) was first applied in the nineteenth century to a pot with a wide mouth, which usually has a foot at the base and horizontal handles at its widest point. {{Transliteration|grc|Stamnoi}} were nearly always matte glazed inside, and probably always made with a lid.{{efn|These lids are frequently lost.{{sfn|Causey-Frel|1980}}}}{{sfn|Causey-Frel|1980}} The characteristics and measurements of {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}} are particularly variably by comparison to other Greek vase types. Similarly, the styles of decoration varied considerably, as did the shape and ornamentation of the handles.{{sfn|Causey-Frel|1980}}

In antiquity, the term {{Transliteration|grc|stamnos}} is first attested in the work of the fifth-century poet Hermippus,{{sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=xviii}} and referred to a clay pot used to store water, wine or oil: it was a generic word equivalent to {{Transliteration|grc|keramos}} ({{lang|grc|κέραμος}}; {{gloss|earthen vessel}}).{{sfn|Causey-Frel|1980}} An early fourth-century inscription from Chostia in Boeotia mentions the existence of bronze {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}}.{{refn|{{harvnb|Philippaki|1967|p=xix}}. For the inscription and its date, see {{harvnb|Feyel|Platon|1938|pages=149–150}}}}

File:Populonia, stamnos in bronzo, V secolo ac. 01.JPG {{Transliteration|grc|stamnos}} from Populonia, 5th century BCE]]

{{Transliteration|grc|Stamnoi}} were first made during the Archaic period, in central Italy, particularly Etruria, and in the Greek region of Laconia.{{Refn|{{harvnb|Scheibler|2006}}. On Laconian {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}}, see {{harvnb|Stibbe|1984}}.}} Although vases with similar characteristics (a wide mouth, two handles and a low foot) are known from Mycenaean pottery and the early Geometric period,{{Sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=xxi}} true {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}} first appeared in Attic pottery in the mid-fifth century BCE.{{sfn|Scheibler|2006}}

Barbara Philippaki considers the oldest known Attic example to be the Hirsch Stamnos, painted in the black-figure technique shortly before 550 BCE:{{Sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=xxi}} Evelyn Harrison considers this a "kind of proto-{{Transliteration|grc|stamnos}}",{{Sfn|Harrison|1968|p=401}} and Dietrich von Bothmer calls it a "stamnoid vase".{{Sfn|von Bothmer|1967|p=815}} Thereafter, no surviving Attic {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}} were made until around 530 BCE, when they began to be painted in the newly invented red-figure style.{{Sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=xxi}} The earliest known red-figure {{Transliteration|grc|stamnos}} was made by the potter Pamphaios and painted by Oltos.{{Sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=1}} Other early examples were painted by Euphronios and Smikros, members of the Pioneer Group which innovated in red-figure painting at the end of the sixth century.{{Refn|{{harvnb|Philippaki|1967|p=4}}. On the Pioneer Group, see {{harvnb|Campbell|2007}}.}}

Around 500 BCE, the shape began again to be used by painters working in the older black-figure style,{{sfn|Causey-Frel|1980}} while at least seven surviving examples were made using Six's technique, whereby red colour was superimposed upon a black-painted background.{{Sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=25}} Notable painters working on {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}} included Polygnotos, the Berlin Painter and the Kleophrades Painter.{{Sfn|Boulter|1968|p=186}} {{Transliteration|grc|Stamnoi}} were produced in Athens until about 420 BCE,{{sfn|Causey-Frel|1980}} though vessels of similar characteristics continued to be made into the Hellenistic period (323–30 BCE).{{Sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=xxi}}

Around five hundred Attic {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}} are known, of which all but a few were found in Italy. Most surviving examples were found in Etruria, suggesting that the vase-shape was primarily made for export to the Etruscans. The end of their manufacture in Athens ({{circa|420 BCE}}) may have been a result of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta:{{sfn|Causey-Frel|1980}} in particular, the failure of Athens's attempt to capture Sicily in 415–413 BCE interrupted trade between Athens and the western-Greek cities of Magna Graecia.{{Sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=xxii}} During the remainder of the fifth century and into the fourth, locally made {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}} continued to be produced in Etruria in both pottery and bronze.{{sfn|Causey-Frel|1980}} Other examples from the fourth century were made by the native Italiote and Faliscan peoples of Italy.{{Sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=xxii}}

File:Stamnos avec décors de scène dionysiaque et de conversation - Musée du Louvre AGER LP 2308 ; N 3418 ; G 407.jpg and his followers, 440s BCE]]

The early {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}} made in Italy may have been used both to mix wine and as cinerary vessels.{{sfn|Causey-Frel|1980}} Finely decorated examples may have been intended more for display than for everyday use; they were often used as grave goods, and may have been bought specifically for this use.{{sfn|Causey-Frel|1980}} Vases of this shape are depicted as being carried in the palm of the hand, or by the handles: Barbara Philippaki suggests that they were probably, like other similar vases, also carried on the shoulder or head.{{sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=xviii}}

When depicted on Greek vases,{{efn|Depictions of {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}} are exclusively found on other {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}}.{{sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=xviii}}}} {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}} are used for the mixing of wine.{{sfn|Causey-Frel|1980}} They may also have been used to store or serve other liquids like water, honey, milk and oil.{{sfn|Philippaki|1967|pages=xviii–xix}}{{Efn|Dietrich von Bothmer considers storage to have been their primary purpose, and the explanation for the presence of the lid (to reduce evaporation and spoilage).{{sfn|von Bothmer|1967|p=814}}}} In the Greek Anthology, a collection of poems compiled from the 1st century CE, the {{Transliteration|grc|stamnos}} was used as a unit of measure for wine: it seems to have been equivalent to half an amphora.{{sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=xix}} They are often depicted with ladles being used to serve the liquid from them, and ladles are sometimes found with them when buried in tombs.{{sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=xviii}}

The {{Transliteration|grc|stamnos}} is sometimes associated with the worship of the god Dionysos, as images of Dionysiac cult are often found painted upon {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Philippaki|1y=1967|1p=xix|2a1=Causey-Frel|2y=1980}} The suggestion was first made by {{Ill|Vincenzo Campanari|it}} in the nineteenth century, and connected to specific feasts of Dionysus by scholars including Paul Foucart, Otto Jahn and {{Ill|August Frickenhaus|de}} in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.{{sfn|Philippaki|1967|p=xix}} Barbara Philippaki and Faya Causey-Frel, however, downplay this connection, pointing to the occurrence of other topics without obvious relevance to the god on {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}},{{sfnm|1a1=Philippaki|1y=1967|1p=xx|2a1=Causey-Frel|2y=1980}} as well as the presence of clearly Dionysiac themes on other vase types, such as kraters, cups, {{Transliteration|grc|lekythoi}} and {{Transliteration|grc|skyphoi}} not considered to be specifically associated with the god.{{sfn|Philippaki|1967|pages=xx–xxi}} {{Transliteration|grc|Stamnoi}} are sometimes known as "Lenaean vases" on the basis of a putative connection to the Lenaea, an Athenian festival of Dionysus, though Ingeborg Scheibler considers that association improbable given that {{Transliteration|grc|stamnoi}} both originated outside Attica and were generally sent overseas rather than used in the region.{{Sfn|Scheibler|2006}}

File:Louvre-Lens - Les Étrusques et la Méditerranée - 385 - Paris, musée du Louvre, DAGER, K 416 (Stamnos) (A).JPG|alt=A monster with a woman's body (painted in white) and the heads of several dogs emerging from her groin.|Etruscan {{Transliteration|grc|stamnos}}, showing the sea-monster Scylla

File:Odysseus Sirens BM E440.jpg|alt=A ship, sailing left to right: a bearded man is tied tightly to the mast while winged creatures with women's faces swoop around him.|Red-figure {{Transliteration|grc|stamnos}} showing Odysseus tied to his mast while passing the Sirens, 440s BCE, British Museum

File:Painter of the Yale Lekythos - ARV 657 2 - Poseidon with Nereid and Amphitrite - Nereus with Nereids - Würzburg MvWM L 518 - 02.jpg|alt=A bearded man, holding a trident, attended upon by two women| {{Transliteration|grc|Stamnos}} showing Poseidon, Amphitrite and a Nereid, {{circa|475|450 BCE}}

File:MAAC stamnos of Polygnotos with Achilles and Memnon.jpg|alt=Two warriors fighting with hoplite equipment: one is struck with a spear and falls back into a winged woman's arms|Red-figure {{Transliteration|grc|stamnos}} by Polygnotos: Achilles slays Memnon, who falls into the arms of his mother Eos.

{{Commons category|Stamnoi|Stamnos}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|20em}}

{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

• {{cite journal |last=von Bothmer |first=Dietrich |title=Review: The Attic Stamnos by Barbara Philippaki |journal=Gnomon |volume=39 |issue=8 |pages=813–819 |year=1967 |jstor=27684322}}
• {{cite journal| last=Boulter|first=Cedric G.| date=1968| title=Review: The Attic Stamnos by Barbara Philippaki| journal=American Journal of Archaeology| volume=72| number=2| pages=185–186| jstor=502854}}
• {{cite book| editor-last=Campbell| editor-first=Gordon| year=2007| title=The Grove Encyclopaedia of Classical Art and Architecture| chapter=Euthymides| pages=458–459| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-530082-6}}
• {{cite book| last=Causey-Frel| first=Faya| chapter=Introduction| date=1980| title=Stamnoi: An Exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum| publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum| place=Malibu, California| isbn=0-89236-029-1}}
• {{cite journal| last1=Feyel| first1=Michel| last2=Platon| first2=Nikolaos| author-link2=Nikolaos Platon| date=1938| language=fr| title=Inventaire sacré de Thespies trouvé à Chostia (Béotie)| trans-title=Sacred Inventory from Thespiae Found at Chostia (Boeotia)| journal=Bulletin de correspondance hellénique| url=https://www.persee.fr/issue/bch_0007-4217_1938_num_62_1| volume=62| pages=149–166}}
• {{Cite journal| last=Harrison| first=Evelyn B.| date=1968| title=Review: The Attic Stamnos by Barbara Philippaki| journal=The Classical World| volume=61| number=9| page=401| jstor=4346552}}
• {{cite book| last=Philippaki| first=Barbara| date=1967| title=The Attic Stamnos| series=Oxford Monographs on Classical Archaeology| publisher=Oxford University Press| place=London| oclc=526374}}
• {{cite encyclopedia |last=Scheibler |first=Ingeborg | author-link=Ingeborg Scheibler|entry=Stamnos |title=Brill's New Pauly |year=2006 |doi=10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1120940}}
• {{cite journal| last=Stibbe| first=Conrad M.| date=1984| language=it| title=Lo stamnos laconico| trans-title=The Laconian Stamnos| journal=Bollettino d'Arte| volume=27| pages=4–5, 8–9}}

{{refend}}

{{Greek Vases}}

Category:Ancient Greek pot shapes