Lot Essay
This pottery krater relates to so-called Parian ware from the Cycladic islands. According to J.N. Coldstream (p. 214 in Geometric Greece), the fabric owes its name to pottery first discovered on Paros and later described by Ernst Buschor in 1929. However, related wares have since been found on at least ten other Cycladic islands, and at present, the actual production center for the type has not been firmly established. Therefore, Coldstream determined that the “appellation ‘Parian’ must be kept within inverted commas.” For related kraters from Naxos and Thera, respectively, see figs. 69d and 70a in Coldstream, op. cit.