Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus
Bird Shaped Bichrome Flask, Archaic I Cypriot askos, Bichrome IV
Bird Shaped Bichrome Flask, Archaic I Cypriot, Bichrome IV, c. 750–600 BC. British Museum, 1876,0909.12.CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Archaic I

Bird Shaped Bichrome Flask

Pottery flask or askos in the form of bird in Bichrome ware; long oval hand-made body with a long neck and trefoil spout, surface smoothed with a tool; thick strap handle extending from the bottom of the neck to the middle of the body; a slight back-ridge terminates in a pointed 'tail'; buff-pink clay with a white slip, decorated in black and red paint: on each flank, a pointed oval panel, framed by black bands on each side, with black lines and semi-circles with red fill, probably representing plumage; black parallel lines around the neck and parallel red strokes on the handle; a pair of eyes on the mouth; surface cracked in places. Dimensions: Length: 19 millimetres Object Type: flask Ware: Bichrome Ware (Bichrome IV) Techniques: painted; slipped

Classification

Object type
Terracotta figure-vessel
Ware
Bichrome ware (Iron Age)Bichrome IV
Shape
Special and ritual vesselsAskos
Decoration
PaintedPainted in two colours
Material
Clay
Period
probablyIron AgeCypro-ArchaicCypro-Archaic I
Date
750 - 600 BC
Place of production
Cyprus

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Collection

British Museum

Provenance

  • Cyprus

Identifiers

Accession no.
1876,0909.12, British Museum · Museum record

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