Hermae* Vase

• Design: Michael Powolny (1871–1954)
• Execution: Wiener Keramik
• c. 1906
• White-glazed ware
• Leopold Museum, Vienna

Three female herms surround the cylindrical vase. In ancient Greece, herms were pillars or columns that were originally crowned with a bust of the messenger god, Hermes, and placed along the roads or at crossroads. Powolny has replaced Hermes with three bare-breasted, mystic-looking women. Their large hairstyles show the influence of Vienna Secession aesthetics on Powolny.

*Hermae is the plural form of herma, a word for the sacred column or pillar in ancient Greece and Rome.