Cleveland Museum of Art

Black-Figure Olpe (Wine Jug): Rooster

Date

c. 575 BCE

Medium

ceramic

Culture

Greek, Middle/Late Corinthian

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Although this wine jug, simply decorated with a rooster and two lotus blossoms, looks much like Athenian vases, it was made in Corinth. The paler buff color of the Corinthian clay can be seen on the handle and in some areas of loss, but the background of the decorated area has been covered with a red slip imitating the reddish, iron-rich Attic (or Athenian) clay. On the back of the vase, two reserved (red) crescent shapes may represent eyes, like those painted in much more detail on many drinking cups of this period. Roosters appear frequently on vases—alone, in cock fights, and as love gifts.

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