Getty Museum

Situla and fragments

Date

750–700 B.C.

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Villanovan

Department

Vessels

Institution

Getty Museum

The situla has a slightly concave base, steep walls that flare out and then angle in sharply at the shoulder, and a wide mouth with a vertical lip. A thickened rim was formed by folding the wall of the mouth over a copper alloy wire and crimping. On either side is a handle plate, which is affixed to the exterior of the mouth by means of two rivets. The rectangular plates have a pair of vertical rings projecting above the rim. Two twisted bail handles with S-curved terminals are looped through the vertical rings. The body of the vessel is composed of three hammered sheets of copper-tin alloy: one forms the base, and two sheets are riveted together to form the walls. Pan-head rivets have been applied at close intervals to attach the base to the lower wall; a vertical series of pan-head and countersunk flat rivets fasten the two wall sheets at the lap-joint under the handle-plates. Non-structural pan-head rivets have been applied vertically at the center of the vessel’s front and back sides to create a symmetrical decorative effect. Hanging from the s-curved ends of each handle is a double-spiral pendant. Double-spiral pendants dangle from pairs of serpentine hooks, which are attached to the center front and back rim, and which also served as rests for the lowered handles. The body of the situla has been restored at numerous points; two of the original eight spiral pendants are missing: one from the base of a handle and another from the side. Typical of the Villanovan and early Etruscan culture, the pail or bucket shape is known as a situla. This example is distinctive for its delicately twisted handles and ornamental pendant spirals. Its steep walls are embellished with spherical rivets, a treatment favored by Iron Age metalworkers. Situlae were all-purpose containers used for domestic tasks and sometimes also served as burial urns. This type may have originated in Vulci, a famous bronze-working center. Rich metal deposits in the hills of northern Etruria supplied a thriving industry that produced armor and weaponry, jewelry and belts, and household utensils.

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