Terracotta Lentoid Flask in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2010

Title: Terracotta lentoid flask

Medium; Technique: Terracotta

Culture: Levantine

Period: Iron Age

Date: 11th century B.C.

Dimensions: H. 11 in. (27.9 cm) thickness 4 15/16 in. (12.5 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76

Accession Number: 74.51.431

On View

Description:

Both sides of the flask are decorated with goats, birds, and rudimentary foliage. The skeletal character of the birds' wings provides a noteworthy antecedent to the renderings on Cypro-Archaic vases. The origin of this piece has been much discussed. The shape, clay, burnishing, and other technical features have stronger parallels in Levantine than in Cypriot pottery. Indeed, it is probably one of the earliest Phoenician vases imported into Cyprus.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/greek_...