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Name : Apulian frump forefront rhyton
What it is : Aterracotta cupful in the shape of a dog ’s head
A decorated drinking cup in the shape of a dog’s head.
Where it is from : Puglia , Italy
When it was made:340 to 330 B.C.
This terracotta cup was made to resemble the head of a Laconian hound , an out Greek hunting breed also known as a austere hound . Discovered in the " hound " of Italy ’s " rush , " the rhyton — a kind of drinking vessel — show up the influence of Greece on southern Italy 2,300 days ago .
This rhyton , house at theGettyin Los Angeles , was likely made in the workshop of the Darius Painter , a mod name for the artisan whose vase - picture style was well get laid throughout Puglia and who was particularly prolific between 340 and 320 B.C.
Measuring approximately 8 by 4 inch ( 20 by 10 centimeters ) , the rhyton is cover in a ignominious glaze , salve for the cad ’s ears and nostril , and its oculus are coated in a diluted glaze . On the roll of the cup , asatyr — a half - man , half - goat forest mythological creature — hold a plate and a staff , wall by leaf- and orchis - shaped pattern .
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The dog , whose face makes up the humble part of the rhyton , is a hound breed that grow in Laconia , a region of ancient Greece where Sparta was locate . Because theLaconian houndwas well known for its hunt down abilities , it was depicted on numerous mosaic , gravestones and imbibition cups .
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Ancient Greeks used rhytons at drinking party or in ceremonies . It is famous that these vessel did not have flat buttocks , so they could not normally be coiffe down on a table . Rhytons as a style likely evolve fromearlier drinking hornscommon in Eurasia in the Bronze Age ( rough the 2nd millennium B.C. ) , but with a Greek twist : Many rhytons depicted satyrs , which were symbols of debauchery and drunkenness . Dogs were not the only animals whose drumhead were made into cups ; horses , stags , cats , rams , boars , lions and even mythical creatures , like griffins , adorn ancient rhytons .
In addition to being cool cup at boozy bashes , rhytons may have been usedceremoniallyto pour offerings of wine , rock oil or blood , peculiarly during beast forfeit .
This Laconian cad rhyton shows the strong influence of Hellenic culture on southeastern Italy , which was calledMagna Graecia(Greater Greece ) in the 4th century B.C. This expanse was not annex by theRomansuntil 205 B.C.
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