hadra hydria

Everted rim; concave neck set off from body; sloping shoulder; ovoid body tapering to a short narrow base which flares out to a broad foot; flat and broad vertical handle from the upper part of the neck to shoulder; top of handle touches the rim; horizontal bifid handles on upper to mid-body curving slightly upwards.
Natural light brown to golden buff clay; black paint preserved quite well; discoloured to reddish in some parts.
Three encircling bands on top of rim; diagonal stripes decorating the edge of rim; encircling band with dots below on upper and lower part of neck; around neck two laurel branches beginning at vertical handle and uniting in a crossed circle in front; encircling wide band on lower part of shoulder interrupted by two thin encircling stripes of natural clay colour on upper and lower part; upper front body decorated with wavy branches with heart-shaped leaves; in between branches dots shaping circles; upper back body decorated with abstract curved and vertical lines; at each side of horizontal handles a cross hatched rectangle; encircling double band on upper to mid-body; parallel stripes on handles; base painted black interrupted by a natural colour encircling band on the lower part.

Belongs to the Strängnäs collection that was formed by the objects that an Italian nobleman named Pietro Pugioli, who lived in Alexandria in the 19th century, sent as a present to the Swedish captain C. Emil Göransson in 1880. The collection was kept at the Strängnäs Museum and Library. In 1945 it was donated by Södermanlands Fornminnesförening to Strängnäs Högre Allmänna Läroverk (Strängnäs Gymnasium). The collection was deposited at Medelhavsmuseet in 1993.
In 2017 the deposition was changed into a donation since Strängnäs museum closed.

Belongs to the Clay Ground type of Hadra hydriae. Typical features: black paint on natural buff clay, dropped floor, floral motifs. Mainly used as ash-urns for the burial of visiting dignitaries to the Ptolemaic court.
Vessel sealed with lid; content existing but not visible; human remains (?).Indications of an inscription on the front shoulder; naming the deceased (?).

Metropolitan Museum, New York: inv. 90.9.5, 90.9.14, 90.9.17, 90.9.38, 90.9.39, 90.9.42, 90.9.50, heart-shaped leaves on branches, circles with dots, abstract motifs, laurel wreath on neck.

National Museum, Athens: inv. MN2570, heart-shaped leaves on branches, laurel wreath on neck.

Graeco-Roman Museum, Alexandria: inv.21968, heart-shaped leaves on branches, abstract motifs, laurel wreath on neck.

Boussac, M.F. (1998) "Sceaux sur des hydries de Hadra", Études alexandrines 1, 55-63.

Callaghan, P.J. and Jones, R.E. (1985) "Hadra hydriae and central Crete: a fabric analysis", British School at Athens 80, 1-17.

Cook, B.F. (1966) Inscribed Hadra vases in the Metropolitan Museum, Art Papers 12, New York.

Pagenstecher, R. (1909) "Dated sepulchral vases from Alexandria", American Journal of Archaeology 13.4, 387-416.