no photo available
Fish Plate
A wrasse and two striped bream decorate the surface of this plate; the background around the fish is glazed black. The central depression is glazed black and bordered by a reserved ring. Details of the eyes, gills, fins, and bellies are added in white paint. A repeating wave decorates the rim of the plate. This plate has been attributed to the “Wavy Gills Group” of Campanian fish plate painters.
First produced in potters’ workshops of Athens in the 5th century BCE, fish plates were especially popular in Magna Graecia (southern Italy) in the 4th century BCE. A wide range of aquatic life, including crabs, snails, shrimp, clams, squid, and even dolphins, along with a variety of fish, are depicted on fish plates. While it is not certain that the ancient Greeks ate all of these types of animals, fish bones have been found in excavation contexts with fish plates, indicating that the plate was used primarily for sea food. A plate such as this one may have been used as a communal serving platter, perhaps with a dipping sauce in the central depression.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Hesperia Art, Philadelphia, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1965, by purchase.
Exhibitions
| 1981 | A Salute to the Aquarium. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Geographies
Italy, Campania (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 1 7/8 × Diam: 7 3/16 × Diam of foot: 2 15/16 in. (4.8 × 18.3 × 7.5 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds provided by the S. & A.P. Fund, 1965
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
48.2279