When looking at Ancient Greek kraters, can you tell the difference between column and calyx? Or identify volute versus bell? These four types are the main categories of kraters, objects with a round body and wide mouth specifically used for mixing wine and water.
Referred to as jars, bowls, vases, and vessels, kraters were often made of terracotta, a hard, red-brown earthenware used to create pottery and sculpture. Despite being utilitarian objects, kraters decorated with paintings are some of the most important surviving artworks of the classical world.
To make a krater, a potter first shaped the vessel’s form, often in separate parts, on a wheel. After the clay segments dried, they were assembled with the handles added last. While simple wares were left undecorated, luxurious versions were painted with ornamental and figural designs.
There were two types of painting techniques: black-figure and red-figure. Painting with black figures was the older tradition. Vase painters incised motifs in slip, a liquid mix of clay and water, which turned black during subsequent firing. The background stayed the color of the clay.
Column Krater
The column krater can be traced to the late 7th century B.C., when it was produced in the Greek city-state of Corinth. The term derives from the vessel’s column-like handles. The form spread to Athens and was produced by Athenian artisans from the early 6th century B.C. to the latter part of the following century.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Terracotta Column-Krater (bowl for mixing wine and water),” circa 500 B.C., is a fascinating example of the gradual shift from black-figure to red-figure vase painting. The main scene on the obverse of the bowl shows the hero Herakles battling Kyknos (Cycnus), the son of the Greek god of war, who robbed travelers journeying to Delphi.
This depiction utilizes the red-figure technique that was new when this krater was created. However, for the decorative scheme on the column-krater’s neck, the potter chose the traditional—by then old-fashioned—black-figure practice. This vignette shows youthful hunters carrying clubs alongside hounds.
Calyx Krater
The calyx krater has an upward curling form thanks to handles placed on the lower portion of the bowl’s body. This looks similar to a flower’s calyx, the outer part of the flower made up of sepals, hence the krater type’s name. This form’s origin dates to the 6th century B.C. They were primarily decorated with red-figure, and the shape became more elongated as the centuries progressed.
In addition to scenes of mythology and literature, kraters were also illustrated with images of daily life. At The Walters Art Museum, “Calyx Krater With a Departure Scene,” from 470 B.C.–460 B.C., portrays a pivotal moment in a young warrior’s life. One side of the vase shows a warrior in front of his family’s altar. He is now leaving for battle after years of training. The man wears a cuirass, or breastplate, and holds a spear. Across the altar, a woman holds his shield and helmet. The krater’s other side shows a man leaning on a staff.
Curators believe his raised hand may be to mirror that of the woman and her gesture to the warrior. Decorative borders frame both sides. The bottom one features a meander motif, also known as the Greek key pattern.
Volute Krater
The classification of volute kraters derives from the spiral shape of their handles. Volutes are scroll-like motifs also found on Ionic columns. Kraters in this style were made throughout ancient Greece as early as the 6th century B.C. Some of the most elaborate versions were made in a colony of what is present-day Apulia, Italy. Works by these Apulian artists are distinctive for the addition of colors, particularly yellow and white, to red-figure images, complex compositions, and ornate details.
“Red-Figured Volute Krater” at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) has an extraordinary history. The vase was made in South Italy in the late 3rd century B.C. From then until 1982, its whereabouts are a complete mystery. It appeared at a Sotheby’s auction in 1989 and sold to a private client. Alas, the krater broke and an insurance claim was paid out. The insurer took possession of the remnants: 35 large fragments and hundreds of small pieces.
When the company was bought by an international firm, an employee, Doug Tinder, closed the office and decided to take the remnants home. It is believed he was given verbal permission to do so, but nothing was put in writing. The broken ancient vase lived in Tinder’s Richmond, Virginia garage for over 30 years.
In 2021, he contacted the VMFA to inquire whether it would be interested in accepting the krater as a donation. Curator Peter Schertz was excited by the offer, since the Museum did not have an equivalent piece in its collection. After tracking the vase’s provenance to 1982, Mr. Schertz faced two hurdles before he could agree for the VMFA to take possession.
Bell Krater
“Bell Krater (Mixing Bowl)” is a dynamic object at the Art Institute of Chicago from about 450 B.C. Bell-kraters take their name from their resemblance to the form of an inverted bell and have small upturned handles positioned slightly more than halfway up their body. They weren’t produced until the early 5th century B.C. As they were the final developed krater form, they were not decorated in black-figure.
The paintings on this example are thought to portray the famous Greek warrior Achilles at home with family. One side of this bowl shows the returning warrior handing his helmet to his mother, Thetis, who wears a diadem. She is the daughter of the sea god Nereus, who is also featured on the vase. The lady on the right, perhaps a Nereid, or sea nymph, motions to relieve Achilles of his shield. The krater’s artist has dramatically divided the picture plain with the diagonal of Achilles’ spear.
On the other side of the bowl, verticals dominate the composition. At left, Achilles grips an upright spear whose form is echoed by an architectural column. Behind him stands the Nereid, holding a flowing fillet—a band or ribbon for the head. These two are balanced by the figures of Thetis, carrying a pitcher with which to fill Achilles’s bowl, and Achilles’s grandfather, who grasps an elongated object.
