Archaic Age Hydra

In all probability the intactly preserved container was made in a Spartan workshop, in the heyday of the city and its wider surroundings between 650 and 550 BC. Contrary to its image in later centuries, Sparta was one of the great cultural centres of Greece at that time. Besides the famous figures of its literary and musical life, this was also greatly due to the work of the city’s little esteemed craftsmen, who also gave proof of the significance of local workshops in metalworking besides ivory and terracotta statuary. Among their specialties were the hydriai, which were used to contain water to be mixed with wine at symposia, but were also known as triumphal or votive gifts. What makes the Budapest piece unique among the almost sixty examples known is that its rear handle is decorated at the top with two human heads instead of the usual animal heads; the lion resting his head on it paws, represented between two snakes at the bottom of the handle, has also few parallels. The popularity of Laconian bronze hydriai is attested by the fact that a somewhat later example was found in the tomb of a Scythian chieftain near Ártánd at the Hungarian-Rumanian boarder: so far this is the only representative of archaic Greek art found in Hungary.