DOI article:
Grzegrzółka, Sabina: Relief ("Megarian") Bowls in the National Museum in Warsaw
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18950#0117
{Atelier des belles Meduses; group B)26. An identical broad lancet-like leaf can
be found in the Monogram ^ Workshop (series XIII, group 3), sometimes
accompanied by a floral stem of a slighdy different type.2'
The motif of rabbits, usually chased by dogs, appears on bowls from the
Workshop of Menemachos and, first of all, on yessels from the Monogram ®
Workshop.28 The shape of animals from the above described bowl brings to
mind some images from the latter workshop, but rendering of silhouette is less
precise and delicate. Furthermore, no exact analogy of the dot ornament could
be found. The bunch of grapę as a separate element dividing the elements of
figural frieze was found in the Workshop of Hera[ios?]: in one case it divides
the figures of comedians and in the other it fills out the space between the tops
of pentagons.29 However, considering analysis of the whole decoration, it seems
that our bowl could not be produced in this workshop. Targe, triangular
bunches of grapes, as if madę of three round groups of dots, appear in the winę
stem ornament in the Monogram ® Workshop (group XV, a) and the
Workshop of Beautiful Medusas (group A, series I, b).30 One must point out that
the groups of dots on the Warsaw bowl seem like an element, which reminds a
bunch of grapę vine rather than repeats it.
The wave ornament, similar to the one discussed: linear, with tops usually
bent to the right, is popular in the Workshop of Beautiful Medusas (series V, b)
where it can be found not only on border frieze but also on the stripe
surrounding Medusa's head stamped on the bottom, the workshop's emblem.31
It is worthy of notice that there are nine waves (odd number) on one of the
fragments where the stripe around the bottom was preserved in whole. This
motif was also used on the border stripes from the Monogram ^ Workshop,
but it was usually turned upside down and of a slighdy different form.32
The above-quoted analogies usually point either to the Workshop of
Beautiful Medusas or the Monogram ® Workshop. The odd number of
elements in the central part of the decoration stripe as well as some deficiencies
in composition - a lack of two little rabbits - reveal rather the Workshop of
Beautiful Medusas. As far as chronology is concerned, Taumonier placed both
workshops in immediate vicinity, so the bowl in ąuestion can be dated for the
second half of the 2,ld century B.C. The dating is supported by presence of
another decorative element of the “macedonian shield”, popular in the second
half of the 2nd century B.C.33
26 Ibid., pl. 19, cat. nos 1144, 2435, 1302, 1363.
27 Ibid., pl. 36, cat. nos 567 and 1346.
28 Ibid., pl. 13, cat. no. 2203 (Menemachos), pl. 34, cat. nos 3033, 3054, 3051 and 8887, pl. 35,
cat. no. 3050 (Monogramist).
29 Ibid., pl. 72, cat. nos 3327 + 8367 and pl. 73, cat. nos 3271-9551.
30 Ibid., pl 35, cat. nos 1456, 1459, 1461, 9299 and pl. 18, cat. no. 1953.
31 Ibid.., pl. 18, cat. nos 769, 988, 2068, 308, 868, 1454, 5621, 8100, 5713.
32 Ibid., pl. 37, cat. no. 3360, pl. 38, cat. no. 2210, pl. 47.
33 S.Yu. Vnukov, S.A. Kovalenko, “Megarskie chashi s gorodishcha Kara-Tobe”, in:
Ellinisticbeskaya i rimskaya keramika v Severnom Prichernomore, ed. by D.V. Zhuravlev, Trudy
Gosudarstvennogo Istoricheskogo Muzeya IOZ, Moscow 1998, p. 70.
115
be found in the Monogram ^ Workshop (series XIII, group 3), sometimes
accompanied by a floral stem of a slighdy different type.2'
The motif of rabbits, usually chased by dogs, appears on bowls from the
Workshop of Menemachos and, first of all, on yessels from the Monogram ®
Workshop.28 The shape of animals from the above described bowl brings to
mind some images from the latter workshop, but rendering of silhouette is less
precise and delicate. Furthermore, no exact analogy of the dot ornament could
be found. The bunch of grapę as a separate element dividing the elements of
figural frieze was found in the Workshop of Hera[ios?]: in one case it divides
the figures of comedians and in the other it fills out the space between the tops
of pentagons.29 However, considering analysis of the whole decoration, it seems
that our bowl could not be produced in this workshop. Targe, triangular
bunches of grapes, as if madę of three round groups of dots, appear in the winę
stem ornament in the Monogram ® Workshop (group XV, a) and the
Workshop of Beautiful Medusas (group A, series I, b).30 One must point out that
the groups of dots on the Warsaw bowl seem like an element, which reminds a
bunch of grapę vine rather than repeats it.
The wave ornament, similar to the one discussed: linear, with tops usually
bent to the right, is popular in the Workshop of Beautiful Medusas (series V, b)
where it can be found not only on border frieze but also on the stripe
surrounding Medusa's head stamped on the bottom, the workshop's emblem.31
It is worthy of notice that there are nine waves (odd number) on one of the
fragments where the stripe around the bottom was preserved in whole. This
motif was also used on the border stripes from the Monogram ^ Workshop,
but it was usually turned upside down and of a slighdy different form.32
The above-quoted analogies usually point either to the Workshop of
Beautiful Medusas or the Monogram ® Workshop. The odd number of
elements in the central part of the decoration stripe as well as some deficiencies
in composition - a lack of two little rabbits - reveal rather the Workshop of
Beautiful Medusas. As far as chronology is concerned, Taumonier placed both
workshops in immediate vicinity, so the bowl in ąuestion can be dated for the
second half of the 2,ld century B.C. The dating is supported by presence of
another decorative element of the “macedonian shield”, popular in the second
half of the 2nd century B.C.33
26 Ibid., pl. 19, cat. nos 1144, 2435, 1302, 1363.
27 Ibid., pl. 36, cat. nos 567 and 1346.
28 Ibid., pl. 13, cat. no. 2203 (Menemachos), pl. 34, cat. nos 3033, 3054, 3051 and 8887, pl. 35,
cat. no. 3050 (Monogramist).
29 Ibid., pl. 72, cat. nos 3327 + 8367 and pl. 73, cat. nos 3271-9551.
30 Ibid., pl 35, cat. nos 1456, 1459, 1461, 9299 and pl. 18, cat. no. 1953.
31 Ibid.., pl. 18, cat. nos 769, 988, 2068, 308, 868, 1454, 5621, 8100, 5713.
32 Ibid., pl. 37, cat. no. 3360, pl. 38, cat. no. 2210, pl. 47.
33 S.Yu. Vnukov, S.A. Kovalenko, “Megarskie chashi s gorodishcha Kara-Tobe”, in:
Ellinisticbeskaya i rimskaya keramika v Severnom Prichernomore, ed. by D.V. Zhuravlev, Trudy
Gosudarstvennogo Istoricheskogo Muzeya IOZ, Moscow 1998, p. 70.
115