Archaic I

Terracotta jug

The astonishing figure shows a compact body with small hooves, one of a pair of wings, and a human face. The iconographical source is Near Eastern, possibly one of the human-headed composite creatures that figure prominently on readily portable seals. During the period of Assyrian control of Cyprus (ca. 707–612 B.C.) such influence are particularly likely. H. 7 15/16 in. (20.2 cm)

Date

750 - 600 BC

Accession No.

74.51.512

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

References

Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 753, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Sophocleous, Sophocles. 1985. ""Atlas des représentations chypro-archaiques des divinités." Master's Diss.." Master's Diss. no. 2, p. 21, fig. 2. Paul Aströms Förlag.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 151, p. 94, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.