Red-Figure Ram-Head Rhyton (Drinking Vessel): Symposiasts; Satyr and Maenad

Description

Although now missing nearly half of its mold-made ram’s head, this rhyton, a kind of drinking horn, retains most of its painted red-figure sections. On the wheel-made bowl above, three symposiasts recline at a drinking party: a youth wearing a kidaris (flapped Scythian hat) and two bearded men holding drinking cups. The youth plays the pipes, while a lyre hangs nearby and one man throws his head back in song. The letters around them, which do not spell out known words, may allude to the music in the air. Flanking the handle are a pipe-playing satyr and a dancing maenad (only partially preserved).

Provenance

Ariel Herrmann, New York, NY; (Acanthus Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?-1988); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1988-)

Red-Figure Ram-Head Rhyton (Drinking Vessel): Symposiasts; Satyr and Maenad

Brygos Painter

c. 480–470 BCE

Accession Number

1988.8

Medium

ceramic

Dimensions

Overall: 19 x 12.8 cm (7 1/2 x 5 1/16 in.); Diameter of rim: 11.4 cm (4 1/2 in.)

Classification

Ceramic

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund