Chous (Toy Pitcher)

Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

430-410 BCE

Greek; Athens

Toward the end of the 5th century BCE, Athenian potters and painters created a large number of miniature oinochoai (sing. oinochoe), or pitchers, decorated with children at play or imitating adults. It is thought that they were given to the youngest members of the family during the Anthesteria, a three-day celebration of the new vintage of wine and the arrival of spring. These little vessels are called choes (sing. chous), which means libations, after the name of the second day of the festival. Children took part in the festival but did not imbibe wine. On this example, a naked boy crawls toward a young bird on a perch. A chous hangs on the wall above him.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Greek
Title: Chous (Toy Pitcher)
Place: Athens (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 430 BCE–410 BCE
Medium: Terracotta, red-figure
Dimensions: 9.2 × 6.8 × 6.8 cm (3 11/16 × 2 3/4 × 2 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Martin A. Ryerson through The Antiquarian Society
Reference Number: 1907.14
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/87658/manifest.json

Wilhelm Fröhner, Collection van Branteghem: Vases peintes et terre cuites antiques dont la vente aux enchères aura lieu à Paris, Hôtel Druot, 16-18 Juin, 1892 (Paris 1892), p. 55 no. 125.
Daniel C. Rich, “Martin A. Ryerson’s Gifts to the Classical Department,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago, volume 27, no. 1 (January 1933), pp. 17-18.
Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 38.

Art Institute of Chicago, The Human Figure in Greek and Roman Art: From the Permanent Collection (Part 2), Gallery 120A, January 13, 1989-February 21, 1990.
Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 155, April 20, 1994-February 6, 2012.
Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 151, November 11, 2012-June 2, 2015.

Alphonse van Branteghem, Brussels; sold, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 30-June 1, 1892, lot 125, to Martin A. Ryerson (1856-1932), Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1907.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.