Kenneth Sheedy

The Delian Nike and the Search for Chian Sculpture

Is it possible to define an archaic Chian style of sculpture? With the discovery of a winged Nike on Delos (Athens NM 21), soon linked to a base found nearby naming the Chian sculptor Archermos, it was believed that archaeological proof had been found for the family of Chian sculptors mentioned by Pliny in HN 36.11. The enthusiastic claims for a Chian school have now been diminished but there remains an unchallenged belief that the Nike of Archermos still provides the key to the recognition of Chian work. In this article a critical review is made of the evidence for this opinion and the methodology of Chian studies is questioned. The conclusion is reached that Chian style, as it has hitherto been proclaimed, is a mirage. Despite nearly a century of critical attention and debate, the famous winged Nike (Athens NM 21) discovered beside the Artemision on Delos remains an enigma (pl. 67, figs. 3-4). Most scholars now seem to accept that it belongs with a fragmentary base found nearby which bears an inscription naming Mikkiades, Archermos and Melas.2 Homolle, who was responsible for the publication of statue and base, saw a ready connection between this hexametric epigram and Plinys account of the beginning of Greek marble sculpture.3 Before their time [that of the Cretans Dipoinos and Skyllis] the sculptor Melas had already lived on the island of Chios, and was followed by his son Mikkiades, and then by his grandson Archermos, whose sons Boupalos and Athenis were the most celebrated exponents of their craft during the time of the poet Hipponax.4 Both inscription and statue seemed to provide archaeological confirmation of ancient tradition, and although controversy has continued to surround almost every aspect of the reconstruction and interpretation of the evidence, the role of these Delian finds in the study of archaic sculpture has had a special historical importance because of the use to which they have been put in assessing the activity of Chian artists. In the early studies of Ionian sculpture and its influence on the art of the Greek mainland, the authority of Chian artists was loudly proclaimed. The brilliance of the Chian school is today no longer dwelt on-following the demise of Panionism-but the belief in the existence of a Chian school of archaic sculpture remains strong.6 Is it actually possible to define Chian style? The question is best approached by looking at the growth of opinion on this subject, for it can be shown to follow clear lines (and here I am as interested in the methodology of approach as in the discovery of new facts). The numerous integrations of the Delian inscription inevitably reflect different expectations as to what the epigram should say if it is to conform to the account of Archermos and Mikkiades given by Pliny and the tradition, recorded by a scholiast to Aristophanes, Birds 573, that Archermos had been the first to devise a winged Nike. Scherrer now provides a * In the preparation of this article I have again benefited from the advice and criticism of Professor J.R. Green and Dr. J.-P. Descoeudres. I am particularly grateful to Professor B.S. Ridgway for her encouragement to follow through my ideas on Chian sculpture-although I am afraid I have not always heeded her good advice. For assistance with typing I thank Mrs. G. Cox. SRecent illustrations: Guide de Delos3 (Paris 1983) 67, fig. 9 (showing front and back); Mer Egee, Grace des Iles (Paris 1979) 191-92, no. 135 and color plate. 2 Speculation that the Delian Nike was in fact an akroterion is today less common; cf. J. Boardman, Greek Sculpture. The Archaic Period (London 1978) 71: The figure must go with the base... B.S. Ridgway, who supported the possibility of an akroterion in The Archaic Style in Greek Sculpture (Princeton 1977) 112, 216, 218, is now in favor of joining statue with base and will present a detailed discussion of the problem in her forthcoming paper, The Nike of Archermos and her Attire. I wish to thank Professor Ridgway for letting me study a draft of this work. 3 Th. Homolle: BCH 5 (1881) 272-78; BCH 7 (1883) 254-56. 4 Pliny, HN 36.11: Cum hi essent, iam fuerat in Chio insula Melas scalptor, dein filius eius Micciades, ac deinde nepos Archermus, cuius filii Bupalus et Athenis vel clarissimi in ea scientia fuere Hipponactis poetae aetate,... J.R. Green has pointed out to me that Pliny clearly separates each of the four generations. This distinction, I think, is not apparent in the translations of H. Stuart Jones and K. Jex-Blake. 5 See, e.g., H. Lechat, La sculpture attique avant Phidias (Paris 1904) 169: Mais, i proximiti de D1los et dAthines, existait, vers le milieu du VIe siicle, une &cole cilbre, la plus brillante du temps. Elle Ctait n&e et s6tait forme g Chios, dans cette ile opulente, active, port&e i la fois au commerce qui lenrichissait et aux arts que embellissaient sa richesse, patrie dHomere (elle le pr~tendait du moins) et, en tout cas, gardienne fiddle des poimes hombriques, p&piniire de pontes et de rapsodes. A c6th de lillustre &cole des Hom&rides, se constitua, au VIIe siecle, et se diveloppa, pendant le VIe sidcle une &cole de sculpteurs que ne devait pas Etre moins illustre. 6 On Panionism and its failings, see R.M. Cook, JHS 66 (1946) 7-98.

John M. Cook (191O-1994): a bibliography

The bibliography is intended as a tribute to Cook and his work, and as an aid to researchers in similar fields. Its main subdivisions reflect his interests—Asia Minor: archaeology, topography and history; Greece: archaeological and topographical studies; Attic Geometric and Protoattic pottery; Greek art (and other topics). Books, articles, and reviews are presented separately. The academic bibliography is preceded by references to material on the life of J. M. Cook, and succeeded by a list of obituary notices.

Bad hair day: some mementos of New Comedy refurbished

Masks having a bad hair day? Two terracotta masks now in the Museum of Ancient Cultures, Macquarie University (figs 1-5), and the Classics Museum, Victoria University of Wellington (figs 9-12), seem to be in this embarrassing situation. Both of these tonsorially-challenged characters display highly unusual features (indeed the entire forehead of the male mask seems somewhat deformed) but a closer look suggests that in both cases their bad hair is the result of ‘tampering’ with classic mask representations or their moulds. That is to say, existing moulds have been modified and then brought back into use, or examples of each mask-type have been used as the basis for new moulds. Furthermore, the changes can be shown to have occurred at a much later date than that of the original masks or moulds. These changes confuse the identity of the mask, suggesting that those responsible for their later production did not fully understand the original iconography. They are thus of interest as evidence for the later reuse of artefacts relating to theatre, though we suggest in our conclusion that, in spite of their theatrical derivation, their purchaser was not primarily interested in them as souvenirs of Greek drama.

An archaic sphinx from siphnos

The head of an archaic marble statue was removed from the wall of a private house on Siphnos in 1936, during the excavations of J.K. Brock and G. Mackworth Young. It was placed in the local museum. It is argued that the modelling of the head dates it to the middle of the sixth century BC. The hair shows that it comes from a sphinx, probably one of the earliest examples of the type, of Cycladic origin, and it has the head turned to one side. It probably comes from the acroterion of a temple.

Three vase-groups from the purification trench on rheneia and the evidence for a parian pottery tradition (plates 19-20)

Three vase-groups, largely drawn from material found in the Purification Trench on Rheneia and published in Delos 15 and 17, are discussed in this paper. The first belongs to the Late Geometric period while the other two are to be placed in the first half of the seventh century BC. All three may be linked in sequence and together illustrate a pottery tradition which is likely to be Parian. Evidence is presented linking the Attic Wurzburg Group with a Cycladic artist here identified as the Ad Painter and located on Paros.