Terracotta rhyton (vase for libations or drinking)

Cow-Head Group

ca. 460 BCE · Terracotta · Greek and Roman Art

The molded part is in the form of a cow's head. On the wheel-made lip, women and youths. The molded, figural part of the vase is in the shape of a cow's head. The meaning of these plastic vases is difficult to grasp. To some degree, the animal forms hark back to the prototypes that came to Greece from the East. By the classical period, however, the criteria for selection probably included novelty and, it would seem, a contrast to the usual surroundings of an urban, Athenian symposiast (participant in a drinking party).

Artist

Cow-Head Group

Date

ca. 460 BCE

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Greek, Attic

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1906