Etruscan Terracotta Duck Askos in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 2010

Title: Terracotta duck-askos (flask with spout and handle)

Medium; Technique: Terracotta; red-figure

Culture: Etruscan

Period: Late Classical

Date: ca. 350–325 B.C.

Artist or Maker: Attributed to the Clusium Group

Dimensions: H. 5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1919

Accession Number: 19.192.14


Description:

This Etruscan pottery style is associated with workshops active in Chiusi and Volterra during the second half of the fourth century B.C. In addition to the duck's body and wings with carefully rendered feathers, each side is decorated with a floating nude female holding a ribbon. On some related pieces, these figures are winged and have often been identified as Etruscan lasas, nymph-like characters frequently depicted on engraved mirrors and pottery. The precise function of duck-askoi has been hotly debated. Many seem too large to have been used for expensive scented oils and instead may have contained lamp oil or olive oil. Because some earlier duck-askoi have been found with a special type of barrel-shaped vase, some scholars have suggested a connection with wine.

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