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; bifid vertical handle from the upper part of the neck to shoulder; at junction with rim an undulating cross-piece; horizontal handles in mid-body curving slightly upwards.
Natural light brown to golden buff clay; black paint discoloured to pinkish in several parts.
Rim painted black on top; encircling diagonal stripes decorating the edge of rim; around neck two laurel branches beginning at vertical handle and uniting in a crossed circle decorated with dots in front; encircling band with dots below in junction with neck and shoulder; encircling wide band on the lower part of shoulder; upper front body decorated with floral heart-shaped leaf motif from which the two lower lines extend to both sides and curve in the middle; on both sides of motif two circles made of dots; at each side of horizontal handles a cross hatched rectangle; upper back body decorated in centre with abstract motif of two hooks that fall into a straight line; encircling band separating the upper body panel; parallell 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.

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.