Grave marker in the form of a loutrophoros (water vessel)
Grave marker in the form of a loutrophoros (water vessel)
Datesecond half of 4th century BCE
Mediummarble
Dimensionsobject: 80 in. (203.2 cm)
slat crate: 100 × 37 × 34 in. (254 × 94 × 86.4 cm)
crate (dish): 7 × 29 × 30 in. (17.8 × 73.7 × 76.2 cm)
ClassificationSCULPTURE
Credit LineSBMA, Gift of Wright S. Ludington
Object number1941.2.34
Subject(s)
- markers (monuments)
- monuments
Collection
- Antiquity
Sub-Collection(s)
- Greek
On View
Not on viewLabel TextA loutrophoros is a long-necked vessel that was used for carrying the water in which a bride would bathe before marriage and a corpse would be cleansed before burial. This double ritual function led to the use of these vessels as grave markers for those who died unwed. Here we see a monumental marble version that may have stood over a grave in Attica in the late fourth century BCE. The work imitates bronze loutrophoroi, as indicated by the fluting of the body, the delicate double guilloche band below the shoulder, and the ornate volute handles.
