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Date : approx. between 650 and 625 B.C.
Material : Lost wax bronze
Acquisition : Bequest of Walter C. Baker (1971)
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Greek Antiquities
Container
Vitrine : V01
Area related
Olympie (Greece)
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| Description |  |
Bronze cauldrons set on tripods or conical stands were among the most spectacular votive gifts dedicated in Greek sanctuaries from the eighth to the sixth century B.C. Cast bronze griffins'heads often decorated the cauldron rims. They projected outward the shoulder of the vessel on long necks made of hammered or cast bronze. Some of the dedicated cauldrons were colossal.
The Greek historian Herodotus describes one made for the king Kroisos of Lydia that hold 2.700 gallons and another dedicated on the island of Samos that was supported by huge kneeling figures. Over six hundred bronze griffins' head from cauldrons are known today. Most have been found at the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia or at that of Hera on Samos. This enormous one head is one of the finest.
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