This is an adorable piece of pottery.
As an askos,
it would have traditionally been used
for pouring
oil. However, this vessel has taken on
the
untraditional form of a pig. The snout
served as
a spout while the oil would have been
loaded
through the mouth at the top. There is
a small
ring handle on the side. The pig’s
belly is
decorated with a wavy incised line and
painted
white ivy leaves. White paint is also
used to
depict the alert eyes and brows. The
little curly
tail and the pointed erect ears reveal
the
attention the potter paid to
naturalistic details.
While pottery and functional vessels
often took
the form of animals, few are quite so
entirely
successful. In the end, this is not a
pouring jar in
the shape of a pig; but a pig in the
form of a
pouring jar.
- (PF.5555)
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