TANAGRA, LATE BRONZE AGE, CIRCA MID 13TH CENTURY B.C.

The larnax was used in funerary rituals in mainland Greece for a relatively brief period of time at the height of the Mycenean palatial period, circa 1350-1200 B.C. These four-legged containers were used in tombs to hold the bones of the deceased. They were only decorated on the exterior, indicating the intended viewer was the living rather than for the deceased. Unlike their Minoan predecessors who decorated their larnakes with scenes from nature, the Mycenaeans depicted figures in lamentation, prothesis or the funeral procession within geometric borders. These typical mourning gestures are also seen on the frescos from the Theban Megalo Kastelli tomb, terracotta figures from the Attic cemetery at Perati and on funerary vase-painting (p. 634 in Kramer-Hajos, op. cit.)
The present example belongs to the Curving Silhouette style (style 3), in the most recent discussion of the group (see Kramer-Hajos, op. cit.). The larnax has been painted with red pigment over a white base coat, ornamented with schematically-rendered female mourners on each side. Each is depicted in profile facing right, her round head with a large central eye and a curved nose. Each wore a long dress, fringed at the lower edge and decorated with a concentric half-circles. To demonstrate mourning, each has her hands placed on top of her head, the fingers articulated, making the ritual gesture of ripping out her hair. The lines on her neck may represent blood flowing from her face. Each woman is flanked by various geometric bands including waves, wavy lines (perhaps representing snakes), hatched diamonds and concentric half circles, many of which perhaps representing vegetation (J. Chamay in J. Dörig, ed., op. cit.). A double band of crossed checkerboard is at each corner.
For similar examples, see the larnax in the Ludwig collection (pp. 336-337, fig. 1069a-c in H.G. Buchholz, Altägäis und Altkypros) and another excavated in 1970 (pl. 48a, pp. 34-35 in Praktika tês en Athênais Archaiologiskês Hetaireias, 1970).