Krater - Crater

  Krater - Crater

Mixing-bowl: Krater (Greek) - Crater (Latin)

Crater (Krater) was a vase used to mix wine with water, honey and spice. The "Crater" means "mix" in Greek. Crater was large, and the mouth was wide typically. Most of them were 40 - 110 cm in height. Craters were placed in the middle of feast.

Craters were classified according to the shape as below.

Bell Krater - Bell Crater

Click the image to enlarge. Copyrighted by Shiro Kawashima.

Click the image to enlarge. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

The shape looks like an inverted bell. The bell craters are red-figure.

Calyx Krater - Calyx Crater

Click the image to enlarge. Copyrighted by Shiro Kawashima.

Click the image to enlarge. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

This crater resembles flowers in shape, and the handles looks like the calyxes. The handles are fixed in the low part.

Volute Krater - Volute Crater

Click the image to enlarge. Copyrighted by Shiro Kawashima.

Click the image to enlarge. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

The handles look like volute of the capital.

Column Krater - Column Crater

Click the image to enlarge. Copyrighted by Shiro Kawashima.

Click the image to enlarge. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

The handles look like columns. The Athenians made this form derived from the Corinth columns. This shape was a typical black-figure.