Jug with Scenes of Scythians (Greek, ca. 350-325 B.C.)

© State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, 2007

Jug with Scenes of Scythians. (Greek, ca. 350-325 B.C.). Kul Oba burial mound. Gold. H. 13 cm (5 1/8 in.), Diam. 10.7 cm (4 3/16 in.). KO.11 (AB3 746).

This gold vessel, buried with a woman and possibly used by a priestess for ritual purposes, is embellished with a relief frieze featuring three pairs of Scythians and one stringing a bow. The jug's base is decorated with an eight-lobed rosette design. Sophisticated Greek craftsmanship is evident in the metal container's depictions of Scythian clothing, hairstyles, ornamentation and weaponry. Scenes around its circular exterior perhaps illustrate episodes from Scythian legends and mythology. The vessel is one of approximately 190 objects from Russia's State Hermitage Museum on display in Greeks on the Black Sea: Ancient Art from the Hermitage at the Getty Villa in Malibu, California. Together they describe the cultural interaction of the classical Greeks with the indigenous nomadic tribes of the Southern Russian Steppes from the Seventh through Fourth Centuries B.C.

For further reading:

Aruz, Joan, Ann Farkus, Andrei Alekseev and Elena Korolkova (eds.).
The Golden Deer of Eurasia: Scythian and
Sarmartian Treasures from the Russian Steppes (exh. cat.).
New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.

From the Lands of the Scythians: Ancient Treasures from the
Museums of the U.S.S.R., 3000-100 B.C. (exh. cat.).
New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975.

Reeder, Ellen D. (ed.), et al. Scythian Gold:
Treasures from Ancient Ukraine (exh. cat.).
Baltimore: The Walters Art Gallery, 1999.

"Greeks on the Black Sea: Ancient Art from the Hermitage" is on view June 14-September 3, 2007 at The Getty Villa, 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades, California 90272 (Telephone: 310-440-7300; Website). The Getty Villa is open Thursday through Monday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Admission to the museum is free. An advance, timed ticket is required. Parking costs $8.00.

This picture comes from one of the many special art exhibitions available to you during Summer 2007. To view the full list of shows, please see this page.

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Stan Parchin, Senior Correspondent for Museums and Special Exhibitions, is a specialist in ancient, late-medieval and Renaissance art and history, and a regular contributor to About Art History. You may read all of his Special Exhibition and Catalogue Reviews here.