Ancient Mediterranean

Digital Project

Ship model

Cat. No.

C23

Date

Cypro-Archaic

Findspot

Amathus

Dimensions

L: 25.6 cm; H (amidships): 9.2 cm

Medium

terracotta boat model with traces of red paint on the bow and stern

Accession Number

MET 74.51.1752

References

Barnes and Salzman 1998: 82; Basch 1987: 254, 258, no. 558; Cesnola 1877: 259; 1894: pl. LXXVII.701; Hermary 2000: 49; Karageorghis 1995a: 131, no. II(vi)11, pl. LXXVI.3; Karageorghis et al 2000: 158, no. 254; Karageorghis et al 2016: 56-57, no. 92; Myres 1914: 348, no. 2128; Westerberg 1983: 42-43, no. 51, fig. 51

Low slightly crescentic hull with a flat gunwale. The stempost rises vertically from the cutwater, with a slightly concave external edge and ending in an extremity with a concave top that rises slightly above the gunwale. The bow has prominent catheads. The stern has a solid gallery, with a large port-hole for the oars on either side. There is an open bulwark or railing running the length of the hull, formed by a horizontal plank supported by short stanchions. A helmsman with a steering oar is mentioned but no longer survives.

Barnes, L. and E. Salzman. 1998. "Preliminary Investigations of Surface Decoration on a Group of Ancient Terracottas from Cyprus." In: A.B. Paterakis (ed.) Glass, Ceramics and Related Materials : ICOM Committee for Conservation Glass, Ceramics, and Related Materials Working Group, & Institute of Arts and Design Department of Conservation Studies. Vantaa, Finland: EVTEK Institute of Art and Design, Dept. of Conservation Studies.

Basch, L. 1987. Le musée imaginaire de la marine antique. Athens: Institut Hellénique pour la preservation de la tradition nautique.

Cesnola, L.P. di. 1877. Cyprus: its ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples: a Narrative of Researches and Excavations during ten Years’ Residence as American Consul in that Island. London: John Murray.

―――. 1894. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vol. 2. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.

Göttlicher, A. 1978. Materialien für ein Korpus der Schiffsmodelle im Altertum. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.

Hermary, A. 2000. Amathonte: Les figurines en terre cuite, archaïques et classiques, les sculptures en pierre, Vol. 5. Paris: Éditions Recherché sur les Civilisations.

Karageorghis, V. 1995a. The Coroplastic Art of Ancient Cyprus. IV. Nicosia: A.G. Leventis Foundation.

Karageorghis, V., G. Merker and J. R. Mertens. 2016. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art: Terracottas. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Karageorghis, V., J. Mertens and E.R. Marice 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Myres, J. L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Westerberg, K. 1983. Cypriote Ships from the Bronze Age to c. 500 B.C. (SIMA, Pocket-books, 22). Göteborg: P. Åströms förlag.

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