Terracotta vase in the form of a sleeping Black African youth

Terracotta vase in the form of a sleeping Black African youth

Description:

The sleeping boy's nakedness and exhausted state suggest that he is a servant. Vases of this shape probably held perfumed oils.


H. 8 3/16 in. (20.8 cm)

Period:

Hellenistic

Date:

299 - 100 BC

Collection:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance:

Said to be from Cyprus

References:

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1878. Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations During Ten Years' Residence in That Island. p. 456, New York: Harper & Brothers.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 443, pp. 274-75, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Accession Number:

74.51.2263