Terracotta fragment of a neck-amphora (jar)
Unknown Artist
last quarter of the 6th century BCE
Medium
Terracotta
Classification
Vases
Culture & Period
Greek, Attic · Archaic
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Dietrich von Bothmer, Distinguished Research Curator, Greek and Roman Art, 2011
Accession Number
2011.604.3.325
Art Historical Context
This terracotta fragment from neck-amphora, to the last quarter of the 6 century BCE, offers a glimpse into the vibrant world of Archaic Attic Greek pottery. Produced in Athens during a golden age of vase-painting, neck-amphorae were two-handled jars designed for storing and transporting olive oil or wine—staples of ancient Greek life and trade. As a fragment, it survives from what was likely a finely crafted vessel, the technical mastery of Attic workshops renowned for their black-figure technique, where figures were incised through a glossy black slip to reveal the red clay beneath. In the ...