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Terracotta vase

3rd–2nd century BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 162
Four women

A fundamental feature of Greek ceramics and their offshoots is that they could be used. By contrast, this vase, with its lid fixed onto the body, serves a purely symbolic function. It belongs to a class of pieces associated with the site of Centuripe in Sicily. They are characterized by elaborate and delicate applied decoration and by refined polychromy executed after firing. The scene shows a bride surrounded by attendants. The vase was made for the tomb.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta vase
  • Period: Hellenistic
  • Date: 3rd–2nd century BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Sicilian, Centuripe
  • Medium: Terracotta
  • Dimensions: H. 15 1/2 in. (39.4 cm)
  • Classification: Vases
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1953
  • Object Number: 53.11.5
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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