Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei (Budapest, 2008)
DÉNES GABLER AND ANDRÁS MÁRTON: Head-Pots in the Antiquities Collection
The head most probably belongs either to the maenad or hetaira type. 20 Another possibility (mooted by K. Parlasca) is Kore (Persephone). 21 Head-shaped vases of the Roman period mostly follow Dionysiac subjects of the Hellenistic period; for which reason ivy- and grape-leaves are common on oinophoroi from Asia Minor. The hairstyle is close to those of the Severan period, 22 but a precise date is not possible on this basis. The piece was probably made in a workshop in Asia Minor or on Cnidus in the first third of the third century AD. The lagynos shape, decorated with glossy red slip and its figure (head-shape) variants, belongs to the formal repertory of oinophoroi from Asia Minor. 23 The lagynos is a typical Plellenistic shape, although its origins stretch back to the Geometric period. 24 The Roman jugs can also be derived from this same shape. 23 On the basis of the type's territorial diffusion, which includes the Asia Minor littoral, Alexandria, and Tunisia, we can say that the origins of our vase no. 1 should be sought in western Asia Minor, where the most eclectic range occurs of figurai types modelled on various character heads. According to J. W. Salomonson, the oinophoros group can plausibly be linked to several centres of production in southwest Asia Minor, but it is probable for several reasons that the main centre of production was in Cnidus, which turned out biconic jugs with ornamental relief head spouts in considerable numbers. 26 In that city (also a major exporter of wine) kilns and moulds have been excavated in large numbers, proving that workshops for vases with relief decoration may have existed here as well. Although excavations on Cnidus found several lagynos fragments, 2 this material does not include even one piece from the same or very similar moulds to the Budapest pieces. Figurai and relief ceramics on Cnidus go back to earlier traditions of Hellenistic craftsmanship. 28 The Roman pieces are rarer and differ from the late Hellenistic ones in their strict and almost symmetrical proportions. 2 " Narrow-necked biconical jugs were thought to have begun in Asia Minor at around AD 70. 30 U. Mandel, however, dates the beginning of the series already to the third quarter of the first century AD, or even to the reign of Claudius. 31 Production —judging by female busts with datable hairstyles —may have been ongoing in the second or even the early third century AD. 32 The group —to judge by its diffusion over the Asia Minor littoral, Mexandria, Tunisia, Italy, and the lower Danube region —by all means originated in western Asia Minor. Two major centres of production existed, Cnidus and Pergamum, whose wares are now distinguishable with relative ease. Several centres of production may have existed in southwest Asia Minor, but for several reasons it is clear that the main centre was probably Cnidus. Pergamené oinophoroi, like the Cnidian, can also be traced back to Hellenistic craft traditions.' 3 The pomegranate or laurel garland on our vase (no. 1) finds its closest parallels in
