Frames Within Frames: The Art Museum as Cultural Artifact

Gill, Anton

Elsen, Albert E

Carpenter, Thomas H

<p>The core of the collection of Greek vases at Harrow School is the gift of Sir John. Gardner Wilkinson, a leading Egyptologist of the mid nineteenth century whose wide range of interests is well demonstrated by his skill in collecting Greek vases, as well as his still influential books on Egypt. The collection is by no means an ordinary one, since it contains more than its share of Athenian masterpieces as well as a full range of wares from other parts of Greece and Italy. It includes the name vase of the Harrow Painter, an outstanding amphora by the Kleophrades Painter, and many hitherto unpublished pieces of more than ordinary merit.</p>

<p>This volume completes the publication of the ancient Greek and Etruscan vases in the collection of the Reading Museum Service, most of which are displayed at the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, University of Reading (39 other vases were published in <em>Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Great Britain 12, University of Reading</em>, 1954).</p><p>Most of the vases are published here for the first time, with new attributions to identifiable vase painters or workshops. Painter/workshop attributions, fabric identifications, and iconographic discussions enlighten the reader with regard to new findings based on excavations and other fieldwork. The fabrics detailed in this volume range chronologically from Minoan to early Hellenistic, and include South Italian (Apulian, Campanian, Lucanian, and Sicilian), Etruscan, possibly East Greek, as well as mainland (Attic, Boeotian, and Corinthian) wares. It includes patterned, black-glazed, and unglazed wares from almost all of these fabrics, as well as those with figural decoration. The collection therefore represents all the major fabrics of ancient Greek and Etruscan ceramics.</p><p>The vases, many of which have recorded proveniences, share an interesting collections history, which is documented by Jill Greenaway in the Introduction.</p>

Saatchi Gallery