Jar with octopus motif
On display
Standing at an impressive 75 centimetres, this three-handled jar depicts an octopus with six tentacles swimming in an abstract seascape. It was presented to the Ashmolean in 1911 by the government of Crete through Sir Arthur Evans, Keeper of the Ashmolean from 1884 to 1908. The jar comes from the palace that Evans had excavated at Knossos and belongs to a culture he called Minoan, after the legendary King Minos.
In the centuries after 1900 BC, Minoan civilization reached the height of its prosperity and influence and major palaces were built at Knossos and Mallia in the northern part of Crete, at Phaistos in the south, and at Zakros in the east. After 1500 BC, however, there was increasing influence from the Mycenaean culture of the Greek mainland and, around 1450 BC, widespread destruction on the island. Whether this was caused by invading Mycenaean warriors is unknown, but Greek influence on Crete certainly becomes even more pronounced.
Pottery from the period following the destruction shows a blend of Minoan and Mycenaean stylistic traits. The shape of this jar is typically Mycenaean and, because the contents of such vessels – oil, wine and other commodities – were in much demand, examples have been found widely. An octopus had been a popular motif on Minoan pottery where animals were depicted with an extraordinary accuracy that came from a close observation of nature. The Mycenaean approach, however, was – as here – to take naturalistic motifs and abstract them, eventually to the point at which they are almost unrecognisable.
Details
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Title
Jar with octopus motif
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Associated place
Knossos (place of excavation) -
Date
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Material and technique
clay, pigment
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Object type
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Dimensions
74.5 cm (height)
54 cm (diameter)
25 kg estimated (weight) -
No. of items
1
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Credit line
Presented by Sir Arthur Evans, 1911.
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Museum location
Ground floor | Gallery 20 | Aegean World -
Museum department
Antiquities
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Accession no.
AN1911.608
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Further reading
Sherratt, Andrew, Animals in Early Art from the Department of Antiquities, Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: The Museum, 1978), 13
Piper, David, and Christopher White, Treasures of the Ashmolean Museum: An Illustrated Souvenir of the Collections, revised edn (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1995), no. 12 on p. 19, illus. p. 18 fig. 12
Brown, Christopher, Ashmolean: Britain's First Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2009), illus. p.47
Katherine Wodehouse (general editor), The Ashmolean Museum Crossing Cultures Crossing Time (Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, 2014), p.112, illus. p.112
