A small but charming example of an ‘askos’ form, one of the most significant in Daunian pottery from the early Hellenistic period. Here, the usual wide neck is complemented by a second, symmetrical spout, fitted with a strainer and positioned at the rear of the body.
The vessel, wheel-thrown, is made of light grey-beige clay covered with a white engobe. The decoration appears to be painted in black beneath a magnificent turquoise glaze, which is slightly thicker on the base where it has partially built up.
The technique, form and decoration are characteristic of the highly glossy ceramics produced in the workshops of the city of Kashan, situated in the centre of present-day Iran.
This lekythos has a rather stocky, rounded shape. It has a handle that forms a loop above the shoulder. The rim is flared and the neck is cylindrical and elongated. The base is circular and hollow.
A large dark brown-black terracotta vessel, certainly fired in a reducing atmosphere. It is equipped with a small handle and with a long gutter-shaped spout.
Such jars are largely documented all throughout the Near Eastern world. Our example is in the shape of a drop; the regular, rounded profile of the body is only interrupted in the upper part by a sharp, thick ridge on the neck. The circular mouth is delineated by a flat, angular lip.