Beaker with Scale Pattern

1–100 CE
Diameter: 10.2 cm (4 in.); Overall: 11.2 cm (4 7/16 in.)
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location: 103 Roman

Download, Print and Share

Did You Know?

This beaker comes from the Roman province of Gaul near modern-day Cologne, Germany.

Description

The work of Roman potters is very different from that of their Greek predecessors. Greek clay had allowed potters to throw thin-walled ceramics. Slips (paint) made from this clay had permitted painters to draw complicated scenes and figures with infinite care. As the Roman empire grew to include Germany and Britain, local clays found there were better for producing heavier pottery with three-dimensional decoration like the vases shown here. These jars--decorated with a human face (1992.125), animals (1992.126), a feather pattern (1992.183), a wheat pattern (1992.124), and vertical ribs (1992.127,a) were probably filled with foods or liquids and given either as gifts to an elaborate burial or as offerings to a god's shrine.
Beaker with Scale Pattern

Beaker with Scale Pattern

1–100 CE

Rhenish (Cologne), Gallo-Roman, 1st Century

Visually Similar Artworks

Contact us

The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.