Jan., 191 2. Antiquities from Boscoreale. 197 



itself more certainly understood. Pernice thinks 1 that a dipper was 

 suspended from the thumb. In this piece, however, the thumb is 

 not well adapted for that purpose, being slightly rounded on top; 

 in others it is, according to Schreiber, 2 bent sharply inward. It seems 

 more likely, inasmuch as the vase when full must have been heavy, 

 that the handle is intended for two hands: while one hand held the 

 upright part, the other grasped the thumb in order the better to man- 

 age the flow of the stream. 



Height (extreme), m. 0.327 ( = 12.87 in -)- Height of vase without handle, m. 

 0.306 ( = 12.04 m -)- Diameter, m. 0.317 ( = 12.47 in.); of bottom, m. 0.168 ( = 6.61 

 in.); of neck, m. 0.134X0.145 (axis of handle); of top (outside), average, m. 0.187 

 ( = 7.36 in.); of orifice, m. 0.122X0. 135 (axis of handle). Thickness of sides, about 

 m. 0.001 -f-. Thickness of lip. m. 0.004—0.005, except in one or two patches (0.0025— 

 0.004), which are from another vase. Height of handle, m. 0.266 ( = 10.47 m 0- 

 Width of lower attachment (pear-shaped plaque), m. 0.076. 



Stem of handle cracked through at commencement of upper part. 



SILVER PITCHER. 24668. [Plates CL-CLIIL] 



This pitcher or jar of silver, as well as the terra-cotta bowls (Nos. 

 24669, 24670) and three of the frescoes (Nos. 24671, 24672, 24673), 

 was found in a villa not far away from Villa I. 3 



It is poorly preserved. The mouth is put together from four 

 pieces, one of which seems to be from another vase, the body from 

 five or more. The sides are corroded through in at least three places, 

 and all the fragments are oxidized throughout. The vase is cast, 

 the handle separately. 



The body of the vase, which is nearly globular and is ornamented 

 with shallow wavy grooves 4 running up and down, rests upon a low 

 base-ring. The bottom is flat, but there is in the center a slight cir- 

 cular depression, which is itself slightly indented in the middle. There 

 is a short neck, which is not sharply defined, and a flaring lip. On 

 the inner edge of the lip there appears to be an encircling bead-orna- 

 ment; on the outer edge there is a leaf -pattern, and between the two 

 there are two fine raised encircling lines. The outer under side of the 

 lip is also ornamented, but here there are slight differences in the 

 pieces of which the lip is at present composed. 5 



1 Jahrbuch. xv. .4ns. p. 189. 

 1 Alexand. Toreutik, p. 369. 



* This group of objects entered the Museum in October. 1903. 



* As in the silver pitcher, Schreiber, Alexand. Toreutik. p. 333, No. 49, which would seem to be 

 similar in shape. Cf. ibid. pp. 453 f., n. 75. and the inside of the Ara Pacis. A silver rhyton from Tuch- 

 el-Karamus, Egypt, belonging to the Ptolemaic period, has straight horizontal grooves. Jahrb. xxi, 

 Anz. p. 138, fig. 8. 



* /. e. 1. oblique wavy hatching. 2. narrow leaf-pattern with band of dots beneath. 3. uncertain. 

 4. (handle-piece) covered with mending material. 



