Terracotta Vase in the Form of an Astragal (Knucklebone) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2009

Title: Terracotta vase in the form of an astragal (knucklebone)

Medium; Technique: Terracotta; red-figure

Culture: Greek, Attic

Period: Classical

Date: ca. 460 B.C.

Artist or Maker: Attributed to an artist recalling the Painter of London D 12

Dimensions: H. 3 15/16 in. (10 cm); length 6 7/8 in. (17.4 cm); H. with handle 4 15/16 in. (12.6 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1940

Accession Number: 40.11.22


Description:

Eros

Astragals were popular toys in antiquity. As each side of an astragal is distinctive, what mattered in a game was how the pieces fell. Such games of chance also acquired prophetic or erotic aspects. The poet Anacreon wrote about the astragals of Eros—the dice of Love. It is entirely appropriate that this large example is decorated with a lyre-playing Eros.

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