Monumental Etruscan Pithos with Relief Decoration

Culture: Etruscan

Period: 600-575 B.C.

Material: Terracotta

Dimensions: 78.8 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 4237

Provenance: Swiss private collection, acquired on 26 May 1988 from Donati Arte Classica in Lugano. With copy of the certificate.

Condition: Without visible restoration, apparently intact.

Description: Monumental storage vessel (pithos) of fired red clay, once used for the storage of wine, oil, salt, or grain. The body tapers slenderly towards the bottom and is decorated with pronounced vertical ribs, below which runs a raised zigzag band. The lowest section is undecorated, the base is flat. On the shoulder is an elaborate garland decoration of round loops with button-like eyes and mouths. The neck is short, and the rim flares outward. See for the type, the vessels in the British Museum with registration number 1842,0515.1 and in the Louvre with inventory number S 993. Probably from Cerveteri.