Oinochoe (pitcher)
Date: 700-600 BCE
Dimensions:
H: 12 11/16 in. (32.2 cm); Max Diam (neck): 3 3/32 in. (7.8 cm); Max Diam (body): 10 13/32 in. (26.4 cm); Diam (foot): 4 9/32 in. (10.9 cm)
Medium: Slip-decorated earthenware
Place of Origin: Greece, Cyprus
Classification: Ceramics
Credit Line: Gift of Elise Backus, Arthur F. Bissell, the Egypt Exploration Society, Edward Drummond Libbey, Florence Scott Libbey, and George S. Mills, by exchange
Object number: 1992.16
Label Text:In addition to the heron or crane painted on the body of this vessel, there is a clever reference to another bird. The artist has painted two circles on either side of the spout, transforming it into the beak of a second bird. Cypriot painters rejected Geometric style decoration (also displayed in this case) in favor of depicting singular subjects in a narrative. In this case, a bird flying across the open sky with a sun disk to its right reaches for an insect (symbolized by a swastika) with its long beak. At the same time a hunter’s arrow plunges deep between the bird’s wings. In a twist of fate, the bird is simultaneously hunting and being hunted.
On view
In Collection(s)