Classical World, Magna Graecia, Southern Italy, Gnathian, ca. 340 to 320 BCE. A finely made ceramic bottle feeder for an infant, with a looped handle joining upper neck to shoulder, a pronounced round foot, and a nipple-like protrusion from the side positioned 90 degrees from the handle. The vessel is decorated via the red-figure technique with added fugitive red, white, and yellow pigments. Although wet nursing was the alternative feeding method of choice for infants in the past, artificial feeding devices are also known. These came in all shapes and sizes, and this one is quite an elegant example possessing an attractive form and useful function. Initially, archaeologists believed that objects like these were used for filling oil lamps, but residue analyses have found casein from animal's milk in them. Size: 3.125" W from spout to opposite end x 3.125" H (7.9 cm x 7.9 cm)

Gnathia ware is named for the site where it was first discovered - the Apulian site of Egnathia (also Gnatia, Egnatia, Ignazia). The black glaze ware is traditionally decorated with floral and other decorative motifs in red, white, or yellow hues. Scholars believe that its production most likely was centered around Taras, with primary workshops in Egnathia and Canosa. The quantity and quality of Greek colonial Apulian potters increased significantly following the Peloponnesian War when Attic exports dramatically decreased. Apulian artistry demonstrates influences of Ionian (Athenian, Attic) conventions, as well as Doric (western colonial Greek) styles, with a palpable native Italian aesthetic.

Provenance: private Chicago, Illinois, USA collection, acquired in the 1980's

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#132340

Part of the black surface turned red during the firing process in ancient times. Chip to base. Nicks to rims of vessel and spout. Surface wear with losses to pigments as shown.