Guttus (Pouring Vessel)

400-375 BCE

Greek; Athens

During the course of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C., black vessels (commonly called black-glaze vessels) were made with increasing frequency in both Greece and South Italy. Many of them replicate the shape of metal vessels. Others have detailing that is molded or incised. While the quality of these vessels varies greatly, all would have been less expensive than vessels decorated in other contemporary techniques, for example, in red-figure.

Status: On View, Gallery 151
Department: Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Greek
Title: Guttus (Pouring Vessel)
Place: Greece (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.: 400 BCE–375 BCE
Medium: terracotta, black-glaze with stamping
Dimensions: 4.7 × 10.8 × 10.5 cm (1 7/8 × 4 1/4 × 4 1/8 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Martin A. Ryerson through The Antiquarian Society
Reference Number: 1907.21
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Collection Eugène Piot: Antiquités (Paris 1890), p. 51 no. 190.
D.M. Robinson, C.G. Harcum and J.H. Iliffe, A Catalogue of the Greek Vases in the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology Toronto (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1930), p. 254 (no. 555).

The 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 - present.

Alphonse van Branteghem, Brussels, by 1890; sold, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 30-June 1, 1892, lot 190, to Martin A. Ryerson (1856-1932), Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1907.

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