Black-glazed krater with stirrup shaped handles. The handle straps are decorated with a black linear pattern on a cream-coloured slip; the line runs along the middle of the strap’s edge and winds round to form a volute; meander ornament between two rows of dots on the rim and thick rays at the base; the foot is also slipped and decorated with two horizontal lines.
Our krater belongs to Stibbe’s group with horizontal lines on the foot which dates no later than c. 575 B.C. It is to be placed at the beginning of the group’s development. This date is confirmed by the grave context of a krater from Caere, c. 580 B.C. (Caere, tomb 531/9 MA, Milan A 14971) which is the closest to our krater in form and ornaments. The term ‘pseudo-volute krater’ for Laconian kraters is derived from the painted decoration on the handle strap, and from the shape of the strap itself, which gives the impression of being a simplified version of a volute. As a rule, this decoration consists of a black linear pattern on a cream-coloured slip.
