Oinochoe (Pitcher) with Procession of Nude Youths

Expand

IIIFView PDF

Images(4)

Oinochoe (Pitcher) with Procession of Nude Youths

Place of OriginItaly, reportedly from Chiusi

Date6th century BCE

Dimensionsto top of head at rim: 22 5/8 × 6 3/4 in. (57.5 × 17.2 cm)
to rim: 21 3/16 in. (53.8 cm)
across rotellas at rim: 10 3/8 in. (26.3 cm)
neck: 3 11/16 in. (9.3 cm)
body: 11 13/16 × 12 3/16 in. (30 × 31 cm)

MediumWheel-thrown earthenware with applied, impressed, and incised decoration

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1984.26

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionThis large, black bucchero vessel features a trefoil mouth and a high-relief female head molded at the rim beneath the handle, which attaches to a rotella-disc at the shoulder. The neck bears fillet bands, and the body is decorated with a symmetrical frieze of ten nude youths approaching a central standing female figure bearing a wide bowl. Below this, frontal feline masks form a secondary band. Raised fillets mark the foot junction. A hole at the base of the foot was intentionally pierced in antiquity, suggesting funerary use.

Label TextThis imposing Etruscan vessel, nearly two feet tall, exemplifies “bucchero pesante”—a heavy black ceramic produced in central Italy during the 7th century BCE. Characterized by molded and incised ornament, bucchero vessels often imitated shapes from metal prototypes. The rim of this cup is decorated with the head of a woman, whose arms embrace the rim, her long hair forming a rib that strengthens the handle. The body displays a rhythmic procession: five nude youths approach from each side toward a central woman bearing a shallow bowl. Beneath, a band of frontal panther masks underscores the mythic or funerary significance of the scene. The vessel was pierced through its base in antiquity, signaling its role in tomb rituals—allowing libations to pass directly into the earth.Comparative ReferencesSee also Walters, H.B., Catalogue of the Greek adn Roman Vases in teh British Museum, London, 1913, pl. XIX, no. H212 and p. 250, no. H212 and p. 250, no. 212.

cf. Phryce, F.N., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Great Britain fasc. 10, British Museum fasc. 7, London, 1932, pl. 20, no. 8.

cf. Birch, S., History of Ancient Pottery, London, 1858, p. 198, no. 181.

cf. Vermuele, C. (ed.), Greek, Etruscan and Roman Art in The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1963, p. 198, no. 181.