Glossary Pottery and vessels
Krater
A large, wide-mouthed bowl or jar used for mixing wine with water before serving, usually with two handles.
Greek drinkers mixed their wine in a krater and ladled it out into cups, and the word is used for similar open mixing vessels across the Mediterranean. Kraters are among the largest decorated pots of any period, which made them good surfaces for figured scenes.
Late Bronze Age Cyprus imported large numbers of Mycenaean pictorial kraters painted with chariots, bulls and birds, especially at Enkomi, Kition and Hala Sultan Tekke. Local potters made their own in Plain White, Bichrome and White Painted, and the amphoroid krater is covered on the amphora page.
Related terms
- Kylix
A shallow, two-handled drinking cup set on a stem and foot, a Greek shape that Cypriot potters also made.
- Open and closed shapes
The basic division of vessel forms: open shapes have a mouth as wide as the body, closed shapes narrow to a neck or small opening.
- Stirrup jar
A closed jar with a solid false neck on top, bridged by two handles like a stirrup, and a separate spout on the shoulder for pouring oil.
Where it appears
- Mycenaean Imports and Local Imitations
- White Painted Wheelmade Ware
- From Bronze to Iron: Cypriot Pottery c. 1300–950 BCE
- Plain White Ware
- Proto-White Painted Ware
- Plants, Trees and Palms on Cypriot Pottery
- The Mycenaeans and Cyprus
- Bichrome Ware
- Food and Diet in Ancient Cyprus
- Amphora
- Bichrome Red Ware
- Bronze Age Chamber Tombs
and 13 more compendium pages