Terracotta incense burner depicting a group of women seated around a well head
Incense burners (Greek thymiateria) were important cult implements throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. This South Italian terracotta example of the second half of the 4th century BCE is exceptionally complex and rare: five women crowned with flowers are shown around a wellhead. The iconography reflects a local cult, probably that of Demeter and Kore who were widely worshipped in Southern Italy and Sicily at the time.
Each of the women carries different objects: a phiale (libation bowl), a pomegranate, a mirror, a skein of wool, a bird, et al.
Greek, South Italian, Tarentine
Second half of the 4th century BCE
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2012.546)
Terracotta incense burner depicting a group of women seated around a well head
Incense burners (Greek thymiateria) were important cult implements throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. This South Italian terracotta example of the second half of the 4th century BCE is exceptionally complex and rare: five women crowned with flowers are shown around a wellhead. The iconography reflects a local cult, probably that of Demeter and Kore who were widely worshipped in Southern Italy and Sicily at the time.
Each of the women carries different objects: a phiale (libation bowl), a pomegranate, a mirror, a skein of wool, a bird, et al.
Greek, South Italian, Tarentine
Second half of the 4th century BCE
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2012.546)