A while back I posted a picture of a circular puzzle of a bouquet in an octopus vase. At the time, a keen-eyed commenter asked if it was based on a painting because it was very familiar-looking. I didn’t think it was based on a painting, but this weekend I was watching a documentary on ancient Greek art and saw a vase that I recognized.
It’s actually called an amphora, not a vase. I wasn’t sure what the difference was, so I looked it up. Amphorae are smaller, at least when referring to ancient Greek pottery, and they have narrower necks. But today I think these distinctions are meaningless.
Anyway, this particular octopus amphora is dated to the 15th century BC and was found among the grave goods in a Mycenean cemetery near Argos. The octopus is typical of Minoan vase painting though.
Alex Good 
Typical of Minoan vase painting, eh? How many painted Minoan vases have you seen?
LikeLike
I have a room full of them. Wrote a couple of academic monographs on the subject. Taught a hands-on workshop where those enrolled made and painted their own Minoan vases in the early 2000s for adult learners. Was called in to authenticate forgeries in the Great Ancient Minoan Vase Hoax of the late ’80s.
Why do you ask?
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s just that I didn’t see your name on the roster for Minoan Vase Paintings and Me; That’s My Bag Baby, the seminal 2024 conference on Minoan Vase Painting, attended by all the big names in the field. Invite get lost in the post?
LikeLike
That conference was the prelim to a festschrift for me, so it would be a little over the top to have me speaking at it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looks more typical of SpongeBob and Squidward to me. What qualities would you typify Minoan vase paintings, if I was to ask you to narrow it down to, say, a dozen?
LikeLike
Tentacles x8.
Fish.
People fishing.
Fish nets.
A bear dressed up like a fisherman eating marmalade.
LikeLike
Nice find!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pure coincidence! Maybe it’s what you recognized when I first posted the pic.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Cthulhu by any other name….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Octopus by any other name.
LikeLiked by 1 person
One of the worst Bond movies.
LikeLike
Well he’s certainly an ancient one.
LikeLiked by 1 person