Pottery askos, Etruria, 400-300 BC
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Links to other views:⇒ Larger View⇒ Top ⇒ Starfish (detail) if scripting is off, click the ⇒ instead. |
This is a beautifully preserved example of an askos, a classic design that combined great elegance and ease of use. The wide opening made for rapid filling, and the small opening for smooth pouring of any liquid. It was crafted out of clay in Etruria around 400-300 BC. This askos was part of a shipment that sunk in the Mediterranean near what became under Roman rule Portus Herculis, and is now known as the Principality of Monaco. Violent winter storms regularly took their toll on Etruria’s export activities to Spain, Gaul, Carthage, and Greece. Among the marine concretions attached to the clay is a delicate starfish (see detail). Bibliography (for this item)Moretti, Mario, Gugliemo Maetzke, Manuel Gasser, and Leonard Von Matt1970 Art et civilisation des étrusques. Hachette, Paris, France. |
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