IG II(2) 10817: Sepulchral Stele

Modern Publication(s): Strong 2 (editio princeps); IG II(2) 10817; Clairmont, CAT I 819

Brief description: Funerary stele with mother and baby.

Attributes

Inscription Type: Funerary inscription

Object Type: Stele

Material: Marble

Original Location: Athens

Provenance: Athens

Date: Late 5C BC – early 4C BC (Strong)

Dimensions: H. 3ft 11½ in; W. 1ft 2¼ in. (Strong)

Layout: 'On the field between akroterion and panel the name ΑΡΚΕΣΙΣ is inscribed.' (Strong)

Writing: Inscribed.

Condition: Apart from a few minor chips to the palmettes of the akroterion and the edges of the stele, complete and in good condition; weathered evenly all over. (Scholl)

Decoration: 'A young mother holding in front of her her closely swaddled baby… sits on a chair without back resting her feet on a low footstool. Her hair, which is tied in a knot at the back, is confined in front by a fillet wound three times round the head. …The subject is sculptured on a sunk panel which measures about 1ft 2¼ in. square. …The akroterion itself is composed of a high central palmette and two half palmettes at the sides, supported on volutes, which spring from a clump of akanthos foliage.' (Strong)

Collection

Location: Lyme Park: set into the north wall of the library.

Collector(s): Collected by Mr Thomas Legh 'during his stay in Athens in 1812'. (Strong)

Date collected: 1812.

Accession or catalogue number: TBC

Bibliography

C. Clairmont, Classical Attic Tombstones (Kilchberg, 1993-95) I 189.

J. Rothwell, Lyme Park House and Garden (London, 1988) 21-22.

A. Scholl, Die antiken Skulpturen in Farnborough Hall sowie in Althorp House, Blenheim Palace, Lyme Park und Penrice Castle (Mainz, 1995) no. L2.

E. Strong, ‘Three sculptured stelai in the possession of Lord Newton at Lyme Park,’ JHS 23 (1903), 356-359, no. 1.

C. C. Vermeule, ‘Notes on a new edition of Michaelis: Ancient Marbles in Great Britain,’ AJA 59 (1955), 129-150, 142.

Web Links

Greek text, from PHI