White Painted Bird Askos

Pottery askos or flask in White Painted ware; hand-made elliptical body in the form of a bird, pinched together at the prominent central ridge running along the back of the vessel ending in a schematic tail-fin; the clay surface has been smoothed with a tool; narrow spout, with a swelling at the juncture with the body, flaring to a trumpet mouth at one end; arching basket handle in the middle of the back; buff clay and slip, decorated in matt brown-black paint: crudely executed ladder patterns along the back, on the underside, and on the handle, interior of spout solid; rim of spout chipped and surface worn in places. Dimensions: Length: 15.40 centimetres Object Type: askos; flask Ware: White Painted Ware (WP III (?)) Techniques: painted; handmade; slipped