Getty Museum

Statuette of a Banqueter

Date

550–525 B.C.

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Greek

Department

Sculpture

Institution

Getty Museum

The statuette depicts a bearded male banqueter reclining on a kline, or couch. He leans against a soft cushion, supporting himself on his left elbow with his left leg flat on the kline, and his right leg bent at the knee and raised. The figure wears a himation draped around his lower body, the folds of which are indicated with wavy incised lines. He looks to his right, holding his right hand to his abdomen. His extended left palm is pierced with a hole for a pin that must have secured a flat, open vessel in his fingers, perhaps a phiale. His hair is crimped and long in the back. It is arranged in a thin roll around his forehead with a single long spiraling lock hanging down over the front of each shoulder. The statuette is one of three similar reclining banqueters (see also [96.AC.77.1](http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/29615/) and [96.AC.77.2](http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/29616/)). Metalworkers frequently ornamented bronze vessels, utensils, and armor with cast and embossed figures and reliefs. These miniature works were often superbly crafted, displaying complex poses and finely rendered details. Mythological figures, animals, warriors, and banqueters decorated bowls, jugs, and other items used at banquets or offered as prestigious dedications in sanctuaries.

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