Getty Museum

Shell

Date

400–325 B.C.

Medium

Marble with polychromy

Culture

Greek

Department

Vessels

Institution

Getty Museum

A virtuoso display of marble craft, this vessel in the form of a shell has eight spines radiating from its concave form, and a smaller spire marked with spiral-shaped ridges. Carved from a single block of stone, the vessel once had a spout, and probably served for pouring libations. Traces of red pigment on the surface indicate that it was originally painted. The shell type has been thought to emulate specimens found in the Mediterranean Sea known as *Aporrhais pespelecani* (Pelican's Foot), which are typically only three to four inches in length. More recent studies have found closer similarities with the larger *Lambis lambis*, a sea-snail shell found in the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea. Only a few other shell-shaped marble vessels have survived from antiquity. An inventory engraved on stone from the Sanctuary of Asklepios in Athens records the dedication of such an object in the year 329 B.C.

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