Vase fragment
Unknown Artist
Medium
Terracotta
Dimensions
2 1/8 × 2 1/2 × 1 1/16 in. (5.5 × 6.4 × 2.6 cm)
Classification
Vases
Culture
Roman, Gaul
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.194.2075
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate terracotta vase fragment, from Roman Gaul (modern-day France and surrounding regions), offers a glimpse into the everyday artistry of the Roman provinces around the 1st–3rd centuries CE. Measuring just over two inches across, it exemplifies the modest yet skillful pottery production in Gaul, where local workshops adapted Roman techniques to create functional vessels. The fragment's tag highlighting "faces" suggests it once bore sculpted or incised facial motifs—common in Roman art to evoke gods, ancestors, or theatrical masks—adding a personal or ritual touch to household items. ...