Terracotta stirrup jar

13th Century BCE

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 151

The name for this type of vessel, a stirrup jar, derives from the configuration of the two attached handles, which resemble a double stirrup. The form first appeared in Minoan ceramics on Crete in the sixteenth century BCE, but it became one of the most characteristic types of Mycenaean pottery made at the end of the Late Bronze Age. Stirrup jars were used to store and transport liquids such as oil and wine.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Title: Terracotta stirrup jar
Date: 13th Century BCE
Culture: Mycenaean
Medium: Terracotta
Dimensions: 3 3/8 × 5 × 4 13/16 in., 9.4oz. (8.5 × 12.7 × 12.3 cm, 0.3 kg)
Diam. of foot: 2 1/8 in. (5.3 cm)
Classification: Terracottas
Credit Line: Gift of André and William Spears, 2024
Object Number: 2024.319.4
Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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