Sui vasi plastici configurati a prua di nave (trireme) in ceramica argentata e a figure rosse

A silver ceramic vase in the form of the prow of a ship (a trireme) preserved at the British Museum in London - part of the Collection of Thomas Blayds - can be attributed to Apulian production. Its form is similar to two red-figure vases preserved respectively in Bari and Paris, also Apulian productions, which can be linked to the workshops of the Painter of Dario and the Painter of Hell. The vase at the British Museum, though no longer complete, has had its original decorative scheme reconstructed through archive photographs and shows a goddess sitting on the bridge of the vessel - probably a representation of Artemis Bendis or more likely Cibele, wearing a Phrygian cap and resting against a lion who forms the acrostolium of the vessel. The decoration on the back shows Eros resting against a small statue of a female divinity, who bears the inscription TYX [- - -] on the base, which can also be found on the inner surface on the handles of Greek bronze hydriae. The gift of small ships decorated with female figures, which can perhaps be identified with the skaf?¥on (boatshaped drinking vessel) given by Eros, as depicted on Attic vases, may have nuptial symbolism. These three vases could be ritualistic and represent a theophoric ship that was used as a votive offering to celebrate the arrival of the divine cult (Cibele) at a site. If this reconstruction corresponds with the documentary evidence, dated to around 340-320 BC, it represents a significant advance in our understanding of the introduction of the cult of Cibele in Magna Grecia, demonstrated in Apulia and probably overseen by Athens.