Parian
/ˈpɛːrɪən
/adjective
1Relating to the Greek island of Paros or the fine white marble for which it is renowned: a copy in Parian marble of a bronze statue...
- Twelve sculpted metopes of Parian marble, approximately 1.6 m square and carved with the labors of Herakles, graced the entablature of the pronaos and opisthodomos, six per side.
- A column of Parian marble, terminating in the figure of a dog, was raised over his tomb.
1.1Denoting a form of fine white unglazed hard-paste porcelain likened to Parian marble: Parian ware...
- Another of their specialized collections, Parian ware is a marblelike porcelain introduced in England in the 1840s.
- Flanking the centerpiece are Paris porcelain reticulated fruit stands of about 1830 and Parian ware standing female figures.
- The Parian ware in this room includes a bust of Charles Dickens dating to the 1850s (on the table) and a figure of Ceres (under the glass dome on the washstand).
noun
1A native or inhabitant of Paros.In 385 the Parians planted a colony on the Adriatic island of Pharos, with the aid of Dionysius I of Syracuse, ‘in accordance with an oracle’ (probably a Delphic oracle, to judge from the Pharians' subsequent devotion to the shrine).
2 [mass noun] Parian ware (porcelain).
