Terracotta Vase in the Form of Lobster Claw in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2008

Terracotta Vase in the Form of a Lobster Claw
Greek, Attic, red-figure, ca. 460 BC
Attributed to the Class of the Seven Lobster-Claws
Donkey; keras (drinking horn)

Accession # 23.160.57

Because so many aspects of Greek life depended on the sea, a vase in the shape of a lobster claw is not surprising. It is, however, exceptional and may be a variant of the askos- a bag-shaped oil container provided with a vertical mouth and strap handle. The Dionysiac iconography of the lobster claw suggests that it was a novelty item used at symposia (drinking parties).

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.