Cleveland Museum of Art

Lebes

Date

c. 480–460 BCE

Medium

bronze

Culture

Greece

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This bronze cauldron has a ring base with three spool feet. Appliqués shaped like birds with the heads of women decorate the shoulder on either side of the vessel. Two handles are fastened to loops on the top of each creature’s wings. The bird-women may represent sirens, mythical creatures that lured sailors with their singing, or harpies, wind spirits that stole food from the starving. The green surface found on old bronze is a corrosion product formed when copper in the metal reacts to carbon dioxide and water.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.