Terracotta Relief Probably a Funnel Vase in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 2018

Terracotta relief probably from a funnel vase,late 3rd–early 2nd century B.C.

Object Details

Period: Early Hellenistic

Date: late 3rd–early 2nd century B.C.

Culture: Greek, South Italian, Apulian, Canosan

Medium: Terracotta

Dimensions: 9 5/8 x 12 1/8in. (24.5 x 30.8cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1912

Accession Number: 12.236.4

This is one of four reliefs with two-figure compositions depicting a combat between two warriors, likely a Gaul and a Greek. Several reliefs probably decorated a large funerary jar. They rested on a shelf-like projection from the body of the vase and were secured by dowels through the holes in the plaque. In this episode, one rider has fallen creating a contrast between the rearing horse and the three enmeshed figures behind him.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/248735