Urn Figure
Unknown Artist
c. 200–500 CE (thermoluminescence date, 60 BCE–390 CE
Medium
earthenware
Dimensions
26.1 × 16.3 × 16.3 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener
Accession Number
1990.277
About this artwork
The figure projecting from the front of a cylindrical container wears a mouth mask perhaps shaped as a serpent’s fanged upper jaw. It probably served in a tomb as a companion to a larger, more complex figural urn. Though termed "urns," these ceramics do not contain the cremated ashes of the dead but usually are found empty.