Terracotta Lagynos with the Head of a Flavian Woman

Culture: Roman

Period: Late 1st century A.D.

Material: Terracotta

Dimensions: 26 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 3688

Provenance: English private collection, acquired from Sotheby's on 13 June 1966. Thence again with Sotheby's on 8 December 1994, lot 196.

Condition: Without any recognizable restoration, probably intact.

Description: Large Roman lagynos with the head of a noble Flavian woman on the bottle neck. The bulbous jug with a wide, low body is abundantly decorated on the upper side with reliefs. These depict garlands, Bacchants with wineskins, the bearded head of Bacchus, as well as a young and an old Silenus in profile. The head of the Flavian woman with a high towering curly toupee, the typical hair style for the period, which consists of four rows and is knotted in a bird's nest-like ring at the back. From the calotte raises the spout with a profiled rim. At the back of the head starts the ribbed band handle, which reaches to the shoulder. At the bottom engraved letters, which probably read the name or the initials of the manufacturer. With an old Sotheby’s label. See for the type the lagynos in the Princeton University Art Museum with the inventory number y1956-104.