This small terracotta vase is made of a type of pottery called bucchero that was developed in Etruria, present-day Tuscany. Bucchero is immediately recognizable by its slightly glossy surface, and the clay that has blackened through and through during a slow firing process.

This particular piece of bucchero is in the shape of a cockerel. Notice its finely articulated comb and beak. There is another, absolutely spectacular, bucchero figure of a bird woman in the nearby display case. The bird before you, however, has human feet. Its tail, now missing, would have curved downward to form a third support.

Most likely, this vessel, made in the seventh century B.C., was a container for ink. The head, which comes off, acts as a stopper and could be attached to the bird’s body by a string, or some kind of cord. The letters inscribed across the surface are the twenty-six letters of the Etruscan alphabet. No doubt, this small, portable pot would have been a useful tool for an ancient Etruscan learning how to write.

If you’d like to hear an introduction to the Etruscans, and haven’t done so, press the PLAY button now.