Face Urn
Rhenish (Cologne), Gallo Roman, 2nd quarter, 1st Century · 25–50 CE · Cleveland Museum of Art
Guide
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This wheel-thrown vase is decorated with humanlike facial features and a phallus applied to the face’s cheek. Wide arching eyebrows meet at the short bridge of the face’s puggy nose, which sits over lips pursed around its protruding tongue. Finger marks can be seen around the eyes and eyebrows where clay was added onto the surface of the vessel to form the facial features. The phallus was often used as a protective symbol in the ancient world.
The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC0
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Details
- Maker
- Rhenish (Cologne), Gallo Roman, 2nd quarter, 1st Century
- Date
- 25–50 CE
- Medium
- reddish ware with gray burnished slip
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 19.5 cm (7 11/16 in.); Overall: 19 x 20 cm (7 1/2 x 7 7/8 in.)
- Place of origin
- Rhenish (Cologne)
- Held by
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · On view · 103 Roman
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
Image: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0