Red-Figure Hydria (Water Jar) Fragment

Second quarter of 5th century BCE

1 1/4 x 3 x 1/4 in. (3.2 x 7.6 x 0.6 cm)

This object has the following keywords:

• hydriae - Ancient Greek or Roman vessels for water with three handles: two horizontal side handles for lifting and one vertical back handle for holding and pouring. Many hydriae were also made in bronze in addition to terracotta and, unlike the metal versions of other shapes, a good number survive.
• Red-figure - Refers to a style of Greek vase painting that developed from the Black-figure style. It appeared in Athens around 530 BCE and spread to other areas of Greece, southern Italy, Etruria, and elsewhere in the Mediterranean area, until it disappeared in the third century BCE. The style is characterized by a particular technique, which involves the use of refined slip and a two-phase firing process to create a black ground through sintering, with figures reserved in red. The details of the figures are more fluid than in the Black-figure style, and are typically drawn with a brush, using both a defined, black relief line and a more dilute line that varies in color from dark gold to black.
• swords - Edged weapons consisting basically of a blade, generally longer than that of daggers or knives, and a grip; designed for delivering cutting or thrusting blows or both.
• vase paintings - Refers to two-dimensional decoration applied to pottery by using paint made of metallic oxides or other pigments held in suspension in slip or another medium. The term is particularly used to refer to Ancient Greek red- and black-figure works. See also "porcelain paintings (visual works)."
• warriors - Those trained for or engaged in the physical combat of warfare, especially close hand-to-hand combat, and designated for or sanctioned in that function by the society or group for which they fight, irrespective of membership in an army. Includes men of the warrior age grade in certain pre-literate societies, as for instance, among some East African pastoral societies. For members of an army, whether directly involved in combat or in other duties, use "soldiers."