Swan-Shaped Cosmetics Container
Swan-Shaped Cosmetics Container
Place of OriginLikely made on Rhodes, reportedly found in Vulci (Italy)
Dateabout 575 BCE
Dimensions4 3/4 × 2 3/4 × 6 1/2 in. (12.1 × 7 × 16.5 cm)
MediumMolded, slip-decorated earthenware
ClassificationCeramics
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1964.54
On View
Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic
DescriptionThis small ceramic perfume vessel is molded into the shape of a resting swan with a long S-curved neck and bill tucked onto its back. The body was formed in two molds and joined on its long axis, with added modeled parts for the head, neck, and feet. The surface is decorated with black glaze-paint, added white and red pigments, and precise incised lines forming feather patterns. Rows of black dots indicate plumage on the neck and body. The wings are covered in dilute black slip with five graduated tiers of incised bars and white overpainting, and the bill is outlined with red. The only opening is cleverly concealed under the tail, between the crossed tips of the wings.
Label TextMade in the form of a swan sitting peacefully with its feet tucked underneath and bill resting against its long neck, this vessel would have been used as a container for perfume. The hole where it was filled is located underneath, where the wing feathers overhang the body, concealing its presence. Containers of this type, came in a variety of shapes, including helmeted heads, female busts, hares, rams, and sirens (human-headed birds), although water fowl were one of the most popular themes. Birds were considered to be divinely inspired in ancient Greek culture. Priests often attempted to predict the future by “reading” the flight pattern of birds to determine an answer to a posed question.Published ReferencesWittmann, Otto, ed., "Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 7, no. 4, 1964, p. 74, repr.
Wittmann, Otto, "Treasures at Toledo, Ohio," Apollo, vol. LXXXI, no. 35, Jan. 1965, p. 29, repr.
Ducat, J., "Les Vases Plastiques Rhodiens," Bibliotheque des Escoles Francais d'Athens et de Rom, fasc. 209, Paris, 1966, p. 92, no. 6.
"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums," Art Quarterly, vol. 29, nos. 3 & 4, 1966, p. 289.
A Guide to the Collections, The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1966, p. 9, repr.
Riefstahl, Rudolph M., "Greek Vases," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 11, no. 2, 1968, p. 26, repr.
Lakofsky, Charles, Pottery, Dubuque, 1968, p. 85, fig. 87.
Morse, J.D., "Toledo, Ohio: Museum of Art," McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Art, vol. 5, New York, 1969, p. 330.
Neils, J. Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, Cleveland, 1981, p. 118, no. 99.
Ebertshäuser, H.C. and M. Waltz, Antiken I, Vasen-Bronzen-Terrakotten des klassischen Altertums, Munich, 1981, p. 49, fig. 55.
Walter-Karydi, Elena, "Die Themen der ostionischen figürlichen Salbgefässe," Munchner Jahrbuch der Bildenden Kunst, Bd. 36, 1986, Abb. 21, p. 13.
Biers, William R., "A heron in Cleveland," Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 76, no. 8, Oct. 1989, pp. 296, 297, fig. 7, 8.
Boulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Toledo Museum of Art, fasc. 2, U.S.A. fasc. 20, Mainz, 1984, pl. 69, p. 5-6.
Exhibition History"Treasures for Toledo," The Toledo Museum of Art, 1964.
Probably second quarter of first century
Probably second quarter of first century
Probably mid-first century
Late 18th Dynasty (about 1350–1300 BCE)
Unidentified, Gorgoneion Group
about 560 BCE
Probably second quarter of the first century
1st century CE
1st century BCE - 3rd century CE
1st-4th century CE
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