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askos; figure; rattle (?)

Object Type

askos
figure
rattle (?)

Museum number

1886,0401.1375

Description

Egyptian terracotta askos or flask in the form of pig or boar. The vessel has a cylindrical neck
with a flaring mouth rising from the back of the pig; a spout, broken at its tip, is placed at the
animal’s nose. The body was thrown on the wheel and then manipulated into shape, with
several applied elements: the neck of the flask, the feet, the ridged mane, the ears. The tail
may have been applied or modelled from the thrown pot (its tip is broken), and the eyes were
formed by pressing a hollow rod into the soft clay. Red-brown Nile silt with abundant gold mica,
quartz and white inclusions. Covered, except the underbelly, with a creamy white slip.
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Cultures/periods

Ptolemaic (?)
Roman (?)

Production date

3rdC BC - 3rdC AD (?) (?)

Production place

Made in: Egypt

Africa: Egypt

Excavator/field collector

Excavated by: Egypt Exploration Fund

Findspot

Excavated/Findspot: Naukratis
Africa: Egypt: Lower Egypt: Nile Delta: Naukratis

Materials

terracotta
Technique
wheel-made

Dimensions

Height: Height: 7.50 centimetres

Length: Length: 9.50 centimetres
Width: Width: 5.30 centimetres

Curator's comments

Close parallels have been given the rather broad date of Hellenistic to Roman period
(Fjeldhagen 1995: no. 193; Petrie Museum uc48325, from Memphis, and uc65094; von Droste
zu Hülschoff 1980: pl. viii:81). A similar vessel was also found at Naukratis (BM1888,0601.661)
and similar vessels were found at Sais or Tanis (Perdrizet 1921: no.408; von Droste zu
Hülschoff 1980: pl. VIII: 82, disagree on find spot). The two Naukratis examples have been
given a broad Graeco-Roman date, 3rd century BC to - 3rd century AD (Bailey 2008, 3768-9).
However, GR1888,0601.661 was found in a Saite period well associated with a sanctuary, the
fill sealed before 525BC and associated with artefacts dating c.610/600-570/560BC. The
provenance is likely Egyptian, but copying Cypriot types, with similar vessles known from
Cypro-Archaic and later contexts in Cyprus (British Museum GR1926,0419.4; GR1881,0824.77;
GR1881,0824.76; Buchholz 1967).

Buchholz H.-G. 1967, 'Tönerne Rasseln aus Zypern', AA 1966, 140-51.

Fjeldhagen, M.1995. ‘Catalogue. Graeco-Roman terracottas from Egypt. Ny Carlsberg
Glyptotek’. Copenhagen.
Perdrizet, P. 1921. ‘Les Terres cuites grecques d’Égypte de la collection Fouquet.’ Nancy.
von Droste zu Hülschoff, V. 1980. ‘Der Igel im alten Ägypten.’ Hildesheim. View less

Bibliographic references

Terracotta / Catalogue of Terracottas in the British Museum (3768)

Villing et al 2013-2015 / Naukratis: Greeks in Egypt (DD.602)

Location

Not on display

Condition

Spout broken at tip.

Subjects

mammal (pig)
swine

Acquisition name

Donated by: Egypt Exploration Fund

Acquisition date

1886

Department

Greek and Roman

Registration number
1886,0401.1375