Getty Museum

Kalathos with Relief Decoration

Date

50–1 B.C.

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Roman

Department

Vessels

Institution

Getty Museum

A grapevine sprouting from the handle wraps around the surface of this kalathos, a vessel with a tapering body. Hanging bunches of grapes, birds, and ribbons floating in the breeze embellish the vine. An anonymous potter made the body of the kalathos in a mold, but he formed the vine and other decorations by hand and applied them while the clay was still wet. The grapevine indicates the vessel's use as a wine cup. A lead glaze covers the vase, ranging in color from dark green on the exterior to gold on the interior. Although vitrified lead glazes had been used on pottery earlier in the Near East, they had long been out of use when the technique was revived in the first century B.C. Green-glazed pottery as a whole was probably meant to imitate the appearance of vessels made of precious metals. The form of this kalathos, as well as the decoration, was based on contemporary silver vessels.

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