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Terracotta aryballos (oil flask)

Signed by Nearchos
ca. 570 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 155
Around the lip, pygmies fighting cranes
Around the main surface of the handle, three satyrs; on the ends, Hermes and Perseus; on top, two tritons

Both potter and painter, Nearchos was one of the great artists active about 570 B.C. His son, Tleson, was the major potter of Little Master cups in the succeeding generation. Both were literate; they inscribed their vases. This aryballos is exceptional for the precision and vigor of the figures.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta aryballos (oil flask)
  • Artist: Signed by Nearchos as potter
  • Period: Archaic
  • Date: ca. 570 BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Attic
  • Medium: Terracotta; black-figure
  • Dimensions: H. 3 1/16 in. (7.8 cm)
  • Classification: Vases
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Cesnola Collection, by exchange, 1926
  • Object Number: 26.49
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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Terracotta aryballos (oil flask), Terracotta, Greek, Corinthian
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late 8th–early 7th century BCE
Terracotta rim fragment of a kylix (drinking cup), Terracotta, Greek, Attic
Terracotta rim fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
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510–500 BCE
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Terracotta kylix: lip-cup (drinking cup)
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ca. 560–550 BCE
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Terracotta askos in the form of a boar
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4th century BCE

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