Terracotta Vessel in the Form of a Boar in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2022

Terracotta Vessel in the Form of a Boar
Greek, Hellenistic, 3rd-2nd century BC

Accession # L.2016.36

On loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from the collection of Hiram Carruthers Butler and Andrew Spindler-Roesle

This enigmatic vessel might be identified as a rattle, with the tail serving as the ring handle with which to shake the boar to make the sound. As such, it could be viewed as a child's toy, but its skillful and detailed working suggests instead that it may have been used in ceremonies associated with the cult of Demeter-Kore (at which it was the custom to sacrifice a pig.)

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.