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).
Inscription: Inscribed: "the boy is fair"
Said to have been found near Santa Maria di Capua in 1872 (Helbig 1873, pp. 4-5)
1872, found in a tomb near Santa Maria di Capua by Francesco Focone; by 1910, collection of Count Grégoire Stroganoff, Rome; [until 1923, with Giorgio Sangiorgi, Rome]; acquired in 1923, purchased from Giorgio Sangiorgi.
Helbig, Wolfgang. 1873. "Note." Bullettino dell'Instituto di corrispondenza archeologica, 1: pp. 4-5.
Pollak, Ludwig and Antonio Muñoz. 1911. Pièces de choix de la collection du comte Grégoire Stroganoff à Rome. p. 60, pl. XLII, Rome: Impr. de l'Unione editrice.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1925. "Athenian Red-Figured Vases." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 20(5): pp. 130, 132, fig. 5.
Richter, Gisela M. A. and Marjorie J. Milne. 1935. Shapes and Names of Athenian Vases. pp. 17-18, fig. 113, New York: Plantin Press.
1941. "Archäologische Grabungen und Funde in Italien und Libyen." Archäologischer Anzeiger, Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, III, IV: p. 390, note 3.
Beazley, John D. 1945. "The Brygos Tomb at Capua." American Journal of Archaeology, 49 (2): p. 157.
Noble, Joseph V. 1965. The Technique of Attic Vase-Painting. fig. 173, New York: American Journal of Archaeology.
Beazley, John D. 1963[1942]. Attic Red-figure Vase-painters, Vols. 1 and 2, 2nd ed. pp. 777, 971, no. 6, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Beazley, John D. 1971. Paralipomena: Additions to Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters and to Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters [2nd edition]. p. 435, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Hoffmann, Herbert. 1977. Sexual and Asexual Pursuit: a Structuralist Approach to Greek Vase Painting, Occasional Papers, Vol. 34. no. 6, p. 14, pl. 12.5, London: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.
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