Bronze Crater (Mixing Bowl), from Derveni, near Salonica, found in 1962. Late fourth century B.C. The most elaborate of
its type preserved (most must have been claimed by the melting pot in antiquity), with Dionysiac relief scenes on the body
and figures in the round seated on its shoulders. It stands 90.5 cm high and had served as a funerary urn.
If not in colour, in form at least there was a tendency to what we would regard as the over-ornate. When execution and
design is perfect a degree of elaboration is acceptable - I think of the finely chased and cast bronze and silver vessels of the
later Classical period; where workmanship is poorer, or the medium less inspiring, it would become difficult to admit the
products to one's drawing room - I think of the large, over-decorated, clay vases of south Italy in the fourth century.
Knowing where to stop is the hallmark of the great artist. Not all Greek artists were sublime, nor their customers always
impeccable in their taste.
The Artists