Csornay Boldizsár - Dobos Zsuzsa - Varga Ágota - Zakariás János szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 99. (Budapest, 2003)

DÁGI, MARIANNA: 'Tinkers' and 'Patchers': Some Notes on the Ancient Repairs of Greek Vases

The holes of a lekanis fragment from Centuripe with a plastic Gorgon-head (no. 15) are unique: these are doubled along the fractures. The similarities in their shape - cylindrical and regular circle - , size and the damage around the hole edges caused by drilling point to the same time of making. The holes on the inner curve of the rim can give some indication of their dating. These are placed not standing by but behind each other on the rim supporting the lid: that is, one of the holes is not beside the fracture. Obviously these holes are not suitable for fixing the fragment to the other part of the vessel, and therefore none of them can be related to any ancient repair. The terminus ante quern of this modern drilling is 1914, when the Museum of Fine Arts acquired the fragment. In four cases the age of repair still cannot be defined. The irregular circular and the oval sunk hole on the two Mycenaean fragments (nos.l and 2) allow us to conclude only that they were not made by a mechanical drill. The position and non-circularity of the cylindrical drill holes on the lekythos by the Diosphos Painter (no. 9) may indicate an ancient repair as well, but on the cup of the lekythos there are no signs of any reattaching of the handle. Therefore the dating of the holes at the join of the handle to ancient times is doubtful. The toolmarks on the wall of the drill holes could help us in each case. However, there is no part of the holes of the Mycenaean fragments with a straight wall observable, and the wall of the drill holes of the lekythos cannot be examined, due to its closed form. In the hole in the tondo of the Attic black-figure Band cup (no. 10) white filling can be found, with a drill hole for a modern pin. In this case the original hole in the tondo cannot be observed, because the filling cannot be removed. It is concluded that seven of the sixteen repaired vases and fragments in the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities show signs of modern treatment (nos. 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13 and 15). Ancient repair can be identified on five vases or fragments only (nos. 4, 5, 12, 14 and 16). The range of dating from the second half of the 6

th to the 2

nd or 1

st century, the different places of production - Etruria, Athens, Campania and Ephesus - and the similarity of technique of the repair all bring up those questions that were already mentioned by the scholars. However, methods of after-firing repair and the problems of and reasons for vase-repairing are discussed in detail only by a few.

35 The lack of interest can be understood, because the conclusions drawn from the analysis of a repaired pot must not be carried too far. The investigations of M. Elston and S. Pfisterer-Haas have made it clear that even the corpus of one collection can only give information that is inadequate to clarify the questions of vase repairs. However, it is worth reviewing the different investigations regarding our topic. One of the questions in connection with the vase repairs is whether there is a spatial pattern in the use of metal for this work. Gold, lead and bronze can be found on ancient vases repaired in Antiquity. Gold is rarely used, mostly to hide the On the method, see n. 2. On other questions regarding the vase repairs, see Hemelrijk, J.M., VerAmstMeded 36 (1986) 1-4; Johnstone 1989-90; Elston 1990; Johnston, A., Greek vases in the marketplace, in Rasmussen — Spivey, op.cit. (n. 2) 219; Connor, P.J., AA (1996) 367-368; Boardman, op.cit. (n. 28) 161-162; Pfisterer-Haas 2002.