Double bol à col et à pied de type kandila

Kandila type double bowl with neck and foot, attributed to the kandiles Sculptor B

Variants of the basic kandila type are extremely rare. Except for this double vase and one unique example with an incised linear ornamentation on its outside surface, apparent deviation from the norm – footless jars, jars with only two lugs – might result from modifications carried out after a deterioration.

Conjoined jars belong to a sub-group of the simple standard version. Apart from the Barbier-Mueller example that is the smallest one, I know of four others: one belonging to the Abegg Foundation near Bern, the largest of the group that can be attributed to an immature phase of the kandiles Sculptor A, two others respectively in the Archaeological Museum of Chania in Crete and in the Archaeological Museum of Naxos, and another in Izmir (since the end of the 19th century at least). These last three examples, as well as the Barbier-Mueller piece seem to be rather ancient works of the kandiles Sculptor B.

Besides style, the presence of two lugs is the only major element that sets the Barbier-Mueller piece apart from the other double models that could be attributed to the Sculptor B. The example attributed to the Sculptor A has four lugs – the usual number – set by pairs, conversely to the even (or almost even) space that separates the lugs on a simple kandila.

The fact that (until now) the known double kandiles only come from either Sculptor A or B, and that obviously they were early works, suggests that these two dynamic sculptors were in competition, in which case they might have stimulated each other to create a shape in marble that had first been created in clay.

Cycladians from the Early Bronze Age seem to be partial to multiple containers. Some rituals might require them. One can easily imagine that sculptors and potters enjoyed taking up the challenge that such compositions represented. Of all these multiple containers, the double vases were the most common, were they in clay or stone.

In the Early Cycladic I, as well as marble double kandiles, there were two sheep-shaped pieces (only one of them is well preserved), with a pair of vases carved in their bodies.

The container could be hung thanks to the lug formed by the sheep’s tail and to a perforation in the neck [1].

Published in: Zimmermann 1993, p. 55 and 136 (n°7) (lips edge restored since then).

[1] About double jars, see Getz-Gentle 1996, p. 11-12 and pl. 5; p. 22-23 and fig. 15 (double clay kandila); pl. 78 (sheep-shaped vase).