White-Ground Terracotta Bobbin in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2007

Terracotta bobbin
Greek, Attic, white-ground, ca. 460-450 BC
Attributed to the Penthesilea Painter
One side: Nike (the personification of victory) offering a fillet (band) to a youth
Other side: Eros and a youth

Accession # 28.167

This object belongs to a group of roughly half a dozen pieces, all of the same construction and exceptionally fine quality but of undetermined function. The two most frequently advanced interpretations are that they served as bobbins or yo-yos. The shape lends itself to either purpose. The fragility of the material makes clear that they must have been dedications. Like the adjacent pyxis, this bobbin demonstrates the Penthelisea Painter's wonderful gift for color and composition.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.