Two tailed Scyllas on flasks
Today I want to take a look at two tailed Scyllas on flasks. These are interesting, as they’re all clearly made from the same mold or by the same artist. Scylla is shown with two tails, and she holds a club in her left hand. Her two tails end in serpent or ketos heads, similar to Typhon’s depictions in ancient Etruscan art, and Giants with snake feet. Also, two dogs are clearly visible at her waist, and has a short acanthus leaf skirt. (This post is also to motivate me to finish my post comparing Typhon, Giants, and Scylla, partly inspired by this question about Typhon.)
Scylla, pilgrim flask, Hellenestic. British Museum.
From the website:
“Pottery pilgrim-flask marked on either side of the exterior of the body with a relief of Scylla brandishing a sword in right hand, with two dolphins below, one ridged handle and a rectangular foot with a hole in the base, the mouth is now broken with fragments missing, worn and chipped, and there are traces of a whitish deposit in places."
Scylla, pilgrim flask, 3rd BCE - 2nd BCE. British Museum.
From the museum website:
“Pottery pilgrim-flask, flat circular body with concave edges, flaring mouth and two handles; marked on each side of the body with a medallion with a moulded rim, design in low relief of Scylla, nude to the waist with a sword in her right hand and a scabbard in left, round the waist a fin, below which the body terminates in two twisting fish-tails with dorsal fins, each ends in the head of a marine monster, below her is two dolphins swimming; there are traces of a whitish deposit in places.”
Scylla with two tails, flask. 300 BCE - 200 BCE. In the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK.
There's likely other Scyllas flask in museums, as I saw a similar image in the phd titled "Images of Scylla and riding Nereids in tondo reliefs of the Hellenistic period." That flask was listed as in the Louvre, but I couldn't find it on the museum collection's website. Also, I found a few other examples of two tailed Scyllas on flasks in her entry in the LIMC.
