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Vine and the Wine in Objets d'Art

ANTIQUITY

We can take ‘Antiquity’ to mean the period from the emergence of writing in Mesopotamia towards 3600 BC to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD.

Ur standard Peace side BM alt 2.jpg

THE STANDARD OF UR (detail)

The King and His Court are banqueting, 'Peace side', upper register

Royal cemetery of City of Ur

Inlaid mosaic scenes made from shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli, set in bitume

ca. 2550-2400 BC.

British Museum, London

During the Bronze Age, 2,700 years before the birth of Christ, the King of Ur drinks wine with his Court. The form of the cups show us that it cannot be beer. This decorative piece is one of the earliest representations of wine in art. It is of Sumerian origin, discovered in the former royal cemetery of the city of Ur, situated to the south of Baghdad in what is now Iraq. The ‘liturgical feast’ shown on the uppermost row of the Standard of Ur’s ‘Scene of Peace’ (below) is probably the first representation of wine-tasting. The banqueters are entertained by a singer and musician playing the lyre. The King is shown celebrating a victory with his brothers in arms. Wine has been synonymous with sharing, brotherhood, conviviality, unity and nationhood for 4,500 years.

Jarre à col, Culture de Grotta-Pelos, Cyclades, 3000-2800 av. J-C. Terre cuite, Getty Museum, LA
THOUTMÔSIS III OFFRE DU VIN A UN DIEU Statuette rituelle XVIIIe dynastie 1479-25 av J-C Bronze, Met
Bouteille à haut col à décor de rinceaux de vigne, Sédéinga (Soudan) - Musée du Louvre

COLLARED JAR

Grotta-Pelos Group
Cyclades, Greece, 3.000-2.800 BC.

Terracotta, 14.9 x 14.6 cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

TUTHMOSIS III OFFERS WINE TO A GOD

Ritual statuette

Dynasty XVIII, 1479-1425 BC.

Black bronze, gold inlay, h. 16.2 cm

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

HIGH NECK AND A VINE TENDRIL DECORATION

Sedeinga (Sudan)

4th-5th century BC.

Terracotta, h. 34.5 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
 / 3

3. The earthenware from the Meroitic necropolis of Sedeinga included many such vases, but this is one of the most elegant and best preserved. Leaf decoration also features on Egyptian ceramics (from the Theban region) which date from the contemporary Roman period; it originated in Hellenistic designs of lanceolate leaves and ivy. The latter is hardly recognizable; in fact, archaeologists often mistook it for vine, the most common plant motif during the Roman period (source : Musée du Louvre). 

Cratère de Vix - Musée du Pays châtillonais
Fig._1._Derveni_krater,_side_A.jpg
Cratère à volutes - British Museum

VIX KRATER
530-520 BC.

Western Greek, Made in South Italy
Bronze, H. 164 cm, 1 100 liters
Musée du Pays châtillonnais, Burgundy, France

DERVENI KRATER, ARIANE AND DIONYSOS
ca. 330-320 BC.

Made in Chalcedony (North Greece)
Copper and tin alloy, 90.5 cm
Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Greece

VOLUTE KRATER (bowl for mixing wine and water)
ca. 500-450 BC.

Western Greek, Made in Tarento (probably), South Italy
Bronze, H. 60,2 cm
British Museum, London

Rhyton orné d'une tête de griffon - British Museum, Londres

RHYTON TERMINATING IN THE FOREPART OF A GRIFFIN
5th century BC., Altintepe, Turkey
Gilt silver, h. 23 cm
British Museum, London

Rhyton au centaure - Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienne

RHYTON TERMINATING IN THE FOREPART OF A CENTAUR
ca. 160 BC., Greece
Silver, h. 22 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Rhyton orné d'une tête de limace - Corning Museum of Glass

RHYTON
75-125, Roman Empire
Glass, h. 21 cm
Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York

Rhyton Getty 1.jpg
RHYTON-AMPHORE c. 400-330 av. J-C, Empire persan Argent doré, H. 32,1 cm Getty Museum, Malibu, CA, Etats-Unis
Rhyton Met DT905.jpg

RHYTON TERMINATING IN THE FOREPART OF A STAG
1st century BC., Eastern Seleucid Empire
Gilt silver, garnet, glass - h. 27.5 cm
Getty Museum, Malibu, CA, United States

AMPHORA-RHYTON
400-330 BC., Persian Empire
Gilt silver, h. 32.1 cm
Getty Museum, Malibu, CA, United States

RHYTON TERMINATING IN THE FOREPART OF A WILD CAT
ca. 1st century BC., Parthian Empire (Iran)
Silver, mercury gilding, h. 30.2 cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Oenochoé ionienne orientalisante, style des "Chèvres sauvages" - Musée du Louvre
Rhyton attique à figures rouges - Musée du Louvre
Cratère en cloche attique à figures rouges - Musée du Louvre

LEVY OENOCHOE
Oriental style, Ionnian
Terracotta, ca. 640-630 BC., 39.50 x 30 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris / 1

ATTIC RED-FIGURE RHYTON

Douris, 480-470 BC.
Clay, H. 14,8 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris / 2

RED FIGURE ATTIC BELL-KRATER
ca. 500-490 BC., Athens
33 x 33 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris / 3

1. The most orientalised styles of the 7th century BC doubtless came from Eastern Greece, an area encompassing the Aegean islands and the cities of the Ionian coast. Here, we can spot many Oriental motifs such as animal friezes (big cats and deer), fantastic beasts (sirens, griffons and sphinxes) and patterns featuring rosettes, lotuses and palm fronds. Eastern Greece’s varied artistic output shared a common style in the second half of the 7th century BC: the “wild goat” style. This was often a decorative feature on oenochoes (triple-lipped wine-pouring vessels) and is characterised by layered vegetable and animal decorations; wild goats are heavily featured in such work, hence the name. The “Levy oenochoe” is a particularly refined example of this style. Monsters (griffon and sphinx) feature on its shoulders, while the body of the vessel is covered with five alternating layers depicting grazing goats and deer, leading towards the right. The whole object is covered with a profusion of small decorative motifs whose “carpeting” effect brings to mind the very embroidery through which all these decorative motifs were brought to Greece in the first place. 

 

2. The rhyton, a drinking vessel whose form is inspired by oriental metalware, is made up of a cylindrical bowl equipped with a handle and the head of a real or fictional animal at its extremity. The bowl of the rhyton of Douris is decorated with two scenes, separated in the middle by a series of diamonds, strips, twists and crosses. Each image depicts a character linked to the banqueting universe in which the vase itself is destined to feature. Two naked comastes, each carrying a himation (an ancient Greek draping garment) in their arms and holding a stick, dance a few steps – probably under the influence of wine. One of them is holding a cup; in the next image, the vase is hanging from the wall by its handle, as was customary at banquets. 

 

* Participants in the komos were known as comastes. In archaeological and iconographic literature, the word generally refers to a noisy group of festive drinkers accompanied by musicians, characteristic of depictions of banquets and Dionysiac feasts. This procession may have its roots in a festival of nature, dedicated to Dionysius, and the subsequent harvest festival. Featuring regularly on Attic vases from the 6th century BC, it seems to have gradually lost its ritual significance and become a private entertainment. (Source: Musée du Louvre)

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3. The first quarter of the 5th century BC (500-475 BC) was the golden age of Attic red-figure pottery. The work of this time stood out thanks both to its artistic mastery and the variety of its thematic repertoire […] The krater [two-handled vase for mixing wine and water] shown here is a variant of the bell krater: it’s actually known as a lugged krater, due to the shape of its handles. The scene here depicts Ganymede (side A) pursued by Zeus (side B). Ganymede, one of the handsomest young men of Greek mythology, was courted by Zeus and finally kidnapped by him; disguised as an eagle, Zeus took Ganymede to Mount Olympus to serve as the gods’ cupbearer [...] Ganymede is naked, playing with a hoop (a symbol of youth) and holding a cockerel, a loving gift from Zeus. (Source: Musée du Louvre)

Amphore à col à figures noires, Groupe de Léagros - Musée du Louvre
Amphore à col à figures noires, Groupe de Léagros - Musée du Louvre
Amphore à col à figures noires, Groupe de Léagros - Musée du Louvre
Amphore à col à figures noires, Groupe de Léagros - Musée du Louvre

BLACK-FIGURE AMPHORA

Attributed to the Leagros Group
 Black-varnished terracotta with red and white painted accents
Greek (Attic), ca. 520-500 BC., H. 44,50 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris / 1

BLACK-FIGURE AMPHORA

Attributed to the Leagros Group
 Black-varnished terracotta with red and white painted accents
Greek (Attic), ca. 520-500 BC., H. 44,50 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris / 2

1. Black-figure neck amphora, side A painted with a bearded Dionysus seated on a folding stool featuring animalsí feet at the base, clad in a chiton and himation, with a wreath of ivy on his head and holding a bundle of vine tendrils. His head is turned towards a naked, ithyphallic satyr playing a zither. On the right, another naked satyr is singing an accompaniment to the same instrument. The space is filled with vine branches, lending the scene an air of celebration. Side B is painted with a maenad dressed in a chiton with a wreath of ivy on her head, seated on a goat and playing the crotals. On either side of her is a naked, bearded man wearing an ivy wreath. The space is filled with branches (source: catalogue vente Pierre Bergé & Associés, expert Christophe Kunicki).

 

2. Black-figure neck amphora, side A painted with a bearded Dionysus standing, wearing a chiton and himation, with a wreath of ivy on his head, holding a cantharus in his left hand and vine tendrils in his right. At his feet is a panther. He is accompanied by two naked, bearded satyrs, each holding aloft a maenad wearing a chiton and playing the crotals (the genitals of the satyrs were deliberately obscured in the 19th century for religious reasons). The space is filled with vine tendrils. Side B is painted with a bearded Dionysus standing, wearing a chiton and himation, with a wreath of ivy on his head, holding a cantharus in his left hand and vine tendrils in his right. At his feet is a goat. A maenad stands either side of him, each wearing a maenad, the one on the left playing the crotals, the other dancing. The space is filled with vine tendrils (source : catalogue vente Pierre Bergé & Associés, expert Christophe Kunicki).

Dionysos_youth_Louvre_G138 (2) alt.jpg
DP112906 lobster met_edited.jpg
Satyrs_and_Maenads,_with_Dionysos,_Satyrs,_and_Maenads,_Douris_or_Painter_of_London_E55,_G

YOUTH POURING WINE IN DIONYSOS' KANTHAROS
Tondo of a kylix

Greece, Attic clay, ca. 480 BC.

Musée du Louvre, Paris / 1

VASE IN THE FORM OF A LOBSTER CLAW
Greece (Attic), ca. 460 BC.

7 x 7,3 cm

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / 2

SATYR AND MAENAD
Tondo of a kylix

Douris, Greece, Attic clay, ca. 490-480 BC.

Harvard Art Museum, MA, United States / 3

Kylix att Oltos Dancing woman prob a maened Attic clay ca 525 500 BCE Mount Holyoke Colleg

 DANCING WOOMAN, PROBABLY A MAENAD

Tondo from a kylix

Attr. Oltos, Greece, Attic clay, ca. 525-500 BC.

Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, MA, United States / 4

Exekias_Dionysos_Staatliche_Antikensammlungen_2044_n2 (3).jpg

DIONYSOS SAILING THE SEA AMONG THE DOLPHINS

Tondo from a kylix

Ezekiasn Greece (Attic), ca. 530 BC.

Staatliche Antikensammlungent, Munich / 5

Met Euaeion DP224715 alt.jpg

SATYR AND A SKYPHOS
Tondo from a kylix

Attr. Euaion, Grèce, Attic clay, ca. 460-450 BC.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / 6

1. The kylix is a shallow two-handled cup, used for the tasting of wine at symposia. It’s a typical banqueting utensil, being both a libation cup and an instrument for the game of kottabos (see 10. below). The kantharos is a drinking vase with two large vertical handles higher than the brim of the vessel. It is a feature of Dionysus and his cortege.

​

2. The sea plays a very important role in the history of Greece and its people. Surrounded by the Ionian Sea on one side and the Aegean on the other, Greece is blessed by the Gods. A vase in the shape of a lobster’s claw is hardly a surprising object, even if it is exceptional. Dionysian iconography suggests that this novel item would have appeared during a symposium.

​

3. Satyrs are ambivalent creatures, half-man, half-goat, who live out in the wild. Together with the maenads, they form the “Dionysian cortege” which accompanies the god in his travels, notably his voyage to India. The maenads are not priestesses, but occupy an important position in religion and worship.  They participate in the mysteries and festivities honouring Dionysus. They wear lion skins, their breasts more or less bared, and carry a thyrsus, a lance wrapped in ivy. Embodying the orgiastic spirits of nature, the maenads take part in frenetic dances which plunge them into mystical ecstasy.

​

5. During his great voyage, Dionysus adopts the appearance of a young man and boards a Tyrrhanian pirate ship (the Greek name for the Etruscans) to Naxos, an island of the Cyclades group in the Aegian Sea. On the way there, however, the pirates changed direction and headed for Asia Minor in order to sell their young passenger. Realising their plan, Dionysus made invisible flutes play music which covered the ship’s mast in vine tendrils and turned the oars into snakes. Mad with terror, the sailors threw themselves into the sea and were transformed into dolphins. The “red coral” of the Mediterranean strongly inspired the Ancient Greek ceramicist Exekias. 

 

6. A skyphos is a drinking goblet between 5cm and 15cm high, generally without feet. They were very common in Ancient Greece and Rome. Used for drinking and libations, it is characterised by a wide, deep cup, a narrow base and two handles halfway up the body or just under the rim.

Met LC-1979_11_8-20201118-01 (2).jpg
Met Symposium DP120791 (2).jpg
Met DP145775 (2).jpg

HETAERA AND SYMPOSIUM PARTICIPANT

Tondo from a kylix

Attr. Makron, Greece, Attic clay, ca. 490 BC.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / 1

SYMPOSIUM

Kylix
Attr. Hegesiboulos, Greece, Attic clay, ca. 500 BC.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / 2

SYMPOSIUM: THE WOMAN HOLS A PHIALE
Tondo from a kylix

Duris, Greece, Attic clay, mid 5th century BC.

Harvard Art Museum, MA, United States / 3

Banquet_Louvre_Kylix_G133_by_Cage_Painter.jpg

YOUTH USING AN OINOCHOE (WINE JUG, IN HIS RIGHT HAND) TO DRAW WINE FROM A CRATER IN ORDER TO FILL A KYLIX, tondo from a kylix

Cage Painter, Greece, Attic clay, ca. 490-480 BC.

Musée du Louvre, Paris / 4

Met DP-19156-002 (2).jpg

KOMAST (REVELER) WITH SKYPHOS (DEEP DRINKING CUP)

AND OINOCHOE (JUG), Tondo from a kylix

Epiktetos, Greece, Attic clay, ca.510 BC.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

01494701 (3).jpg

MAN AND YOUTH DRINKING WINE
Tondo from a kylix

Euaion, Greece, Attix clay, ca. 450-440 BC.

Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Malibu, CA, United States

Colmar Louvre.jpg

TWO YOUTHS AT A SYMPOSIUM

Tondo from a kylix

Colmar Painter, Greece, Attic clay, ca. 500-490 BC.

Musée du Louvre, Paris / 7

A man with a hangover Denmark (2).jpg

A MAN WITH HANGOVER, IN THE AFTERMATH OF A SYMPOSIUM
Médaillon d'un kylix

Brygos, Greece, Attic clay, ca. 500-470 BC.

National Museum of Denmark, Copenhaguen, Denmark

Brygos_Painter_ARV_372_32_youth_vomiting_and_girl_-_komos_(2).jpg

YOUTH VOMITING WITH A GIRL (A HETAERA?)
Tonfo from a kylix

Brygos, Greece, Attic clay, ca. 490-480 BC.

Martin von Wagner Museum, Würzburg, Germany / 9

In the women s quarters Douris Berlin (2).jpg
Met DP-18105-001 (2).jpg
Kottabos_MAR_Palermo_NI2093 (2).jpg

YOUTH PLAYING THE KOTTABOS

Tondo of a kylix interior

Chiusi, Gree, Attic clay, ca. 480-460 BC.
 Museo archeologico regionale Antonino Salinas, Palermo, Italy / 10

IN THE WOMEN'S QUARTERS
Tondo of a kylix interior

Duris, Greece, Attic clay, ca. 480-470 BC.

Altes Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany / 11

TWO WOMEN WITH THEIR GARMENTS
Tondo of a kylix interior

Duris, Greece, Attic clay, ca. 470 BC.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / 12

1 et 2. The symposium (symposion) followed the banquet. It was the moment to drink together. The participants, lying two by two on klinai arranged in a circle, would drink out of kylix cups of wine mixed with water, taken from a central krater, a generously-proportioned open vase for the mixing of these ingredients (the krater was the central element of the symposium and its key symbol). It was a moment for the sharing of drinks, ideas, games…
 
The hetairai (hetaera) were courtesans who accompanied whichever men were able to pay for their services. They would dazzle men with their beauty and entertain them with their spirited and sophisticated conversation.  The symposium would give them an opportunity to show off and meet rich protectors. Athenaeus recounts that when young men fought for the favours of a hetaira named Gnatena, she consoled the loser by telling him: “Well done, my boy; you weren’t fighting for a crown, only for the obligation to pay.”

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3. The phiale is a libation vase (“libation” is when a liquid is poured on the ground as an offering). It generally takes the form of a round bowl without handle or feet. The oenochoe is a « wine-pouring » vase, usually terracotta but sometimes made of precious metal, which served to transfer wine from krater to cup during the symposion. A sort of pitcher, it would usually feature a trefoil mouth, opposite a large vertical handle. This young man’s nudity indicates that he is a cupbearer for the symposium.

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7. This interioremphasizes the physicality of the friendship between two half-clothed youths explicitly acknowledges the role that has played in furthering their intimacy.

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9. A young symposium participant is vomiting. A fair-haired woman assists him. She is probably a hetaira, as prostitutes were the only women allowed at such gatherings.

 

10. Kottabos was an Ancient Greek game of skill played during symposia and in bath houses. It was very popular in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. It’s a playful take on the libation performed at the start of each banquet, when a few drops of wine would be poured on the floor and a god’s name (usually Dionysus) invoked. In its early days, people would pour out the rest of their wine while saying a loved one’s name. Later, it became a game: the goal was to throw the rest of one’s wine into a cup placed on the floor or table, while saying the person’s name. If the drops of liquid reached their goal, it was a good omen. The winner was often given a modest prize: an egg, apple, cake or even a kiss… Skill alone was not enough: you needed a supple throw and good posture too.

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11. The woman on the left is getting ready to spin wool. Textile production – the preparation of the wool, the weaving of the cloth and the creation of the finished garment – was one of a Greek housewife’s most important tasks. While women were responsible for housekeeping and all domestic questions relating to family and staff, men represented the family outside the home.

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12. Two women, nude except for the fillets binding their hair, put aside their carefully rolled-up garments..

Dionysos, marbre - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Tête provenant d'une statue de Bacchus jeune - The Getty Villan Malibu, CA
Bacchus enfant - Musée Saint Rémi, Reims

DIONYSOS

ca. 340  BC.

Marble probably from the Greek Island of Paros, H. 34 cm

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, United States

HETHE STATUE OF THE YOUNG BACCHUS
Unknown Roman artist,

First half of 1st century AD, h. 21.6 cm
The Getty Villa, Malibu, California, United States / 5

INFANT BACCHUS (detail)

Gallo-Roman bronze

Reims

Saint Remi Museum, Reims, France

5. "Dionysos, the god of wine, wears an ivy wreath hung with leaves and berries. This head is all that survives of what was once a life-size bronze statue of the god. The silvered whites of the eyes originally held inlaid irises. The dreamy, slightly unfocused gaze, as well as the slightly parted lips, conveys sensuousness and sexual ambivalence, characteristics frequently found in depictions of the god. This portrayal derives from Hellenistic Greek art, in which the depiction of the god underwent a radical change. Before the Hellenistic period, the Greeks usually portrayed Dionysos as a mature bearded man. In Hellenistic and Roman art, Dionysos is a beardless youth, similar to images of the god Apollo, which sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish between the two gods. On this head, the ivy wreath identifies the god as Dionysos." (From Getty Museum)

THE MIDDLE AGES

The term ‘Middle Ages’ usually denotes the period immediately following Antiquity. This period goes from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD to the discovery of America and the taking of Granada by the royal armies of Aragon and Castile, which both took place in 1492.

Corne à boire en verre - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Coupe à boire (hanap) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Bol à boire en argent et avec poignée - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

GLASS DRINKING HORN
Made in Italy (North), Langobardic?, 575-625

Glass, 21 x 7 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

DRINKING VESSEL (hanap; one of a pair)
Made in possibly Toulouse, France - 1320-1360

Silver, silver gilt, translucent enamel, and opaque enamel, h. 55.2 cm
Metropolitan Museum o
f Art, New York

DRINKING BOWL WITH HANDLE
Made in Tirana, Avar art, 8th century
Silver, d. 18.5 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Calice, Frère Bertinus - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
253-2535684_chalice-png-transparent-png.jpg
Calice de l'Abbé Pelage - Musée du Louvre

CHALICE
Brother Bertinus, Made in possibly Meuse Valley, Northen Europe, 1222
Silver and silver gilt, H. 19,1 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

THE ARDAGH CHALICE
Co. Limerick, Ireland
8th Century AD
National Museum of Ireland, Dublin

PRIEST PELAGE'S CHALICE
Santiago de Penalba, Spain, 12th century
Silver and silver gilt
Musée du Louvre, Paris

THE MODERN ERA

The Modern Era follows the Middle Ages. It started with the taking of Granada and the discovery of America in 1492 and continues to the present day.

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Divine Wine Press Peru.jpg
BK-NM-9381 (1).jpg

THE LAST SUPPER

Anonymus, ca. 1520

Linden guilding, 51.0 cm

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

DIVINE WINE PRESS

Anonymous, Sud de la Cordillère des Andes, 1700/1800

Polychrome carving in Huamanga stone (alabaster), h. 40.20 cm

Museo Pedro de Osma, Barranco, Peru

THE SUPPER AT EMMAÜS

Anonymus, ca. 1520
Linden gilding, h. 52.5 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

SILENE SUR UN ANE, PORTE PAR DES FÊTARDS BACHIQUES  Assiette armoriée, majolique  Nicolas da Urbino, c. 1520/25  The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

SILENUS ON AN ASS, SUPPORTED BY BACCHIC REVELLERS

Armorial plate, majolica

Nicolas da Urbino, c. 1520/25

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

LE REPAS DES DIEUX SUR L'OLYMPE  Majolique Nicola da Urbino, 1530 Musée Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Pays-Bas

THE FOOD OF THE GODS ON OLYMPUS
Majolica, Nicola da Urbino, 1530

Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

114216001_edited.jpg

LUNCH AT JOSEPH

Bible, Genesis 43:16-34

Plate, Nevers Earthenware
1641 - British Museum, London

LA GRAPPE DE CANAAN, LA TERRE PROMISE  Assiette, faience de Nevers 1641 Musée du Louvre, Paris

THE GRAPES OF CANAAN, THE PROMISED LAND

Bible, Numbers 13:1-2

Plate, Nevers Earthenware
1641 - Musée du Louvre, Paris

Diane au cerf, jeu à boire - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

DIANA AND THE STAG, DRINKING GAME
Joachim Friess, German, Augsburg, ca. 1620
Partially gilded silver, enamel, jewels (case); iron, wood (movement)

37,5 x 24,1 cm

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Bras de lumière, bronze doré - The Meropolitan Museum of Art

BRAS DE LUMIERE (One of four three-light sconces)
Etienne-Jean Forestier (or his brother Pierre-Auguste) Forestier, 1788
Gilt bronze, H. 55,2 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Diane chevauchant un centaure, jeu à boire - Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienne

DIANA AND THE CENTAUR
Clock, automate, and drinking game, 1602/06
Hans Jakobe I. Bachmann

39,5 x 32,5 cm

Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna, Austria / 3

3. This automaton serves not just as a timepiece (the dial is on the centaur’s breast), but as a "Trinkspiel" – a drinking game. Its hidden mechanism allows it to slide around the table within a certain perimeter. The centaur rolls its eyes; Diana’s head moves from side to side; a hunting hound lifts its own. Witnesses to this would have been left open-mouthed. Then the centaur would have sent its golden arrow at one of the guests, then required to raise a toast and empty his glass. Diana hunting was a preferred theme for this type of object. Focus: a look, a work >>

Carafe, argent en partie doré - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
ROEMER Hollande, probablement Amsterdam, début XVIIème Verre, gravé en pointes de diamant, H. 28,6 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Pot à vin de messe, argent en partie doré - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

WINE DECANTER
Johannes Szakall, 1779, Hungarian, Kolozsvár
Silver, partly gilded, h. 32.5 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

GOBLET (ROEMER)
Dutch, probably Amsterdam, early 17th century
Glass, engraved with a diamond point, h. 28.6 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

COMMUNION JUG

Hungarian, 1639
Silver, partly gilded, H. 40,5 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York 

Objets d art Clodion Claude Michel Bacchus nymphe et enfant au raisin 1790 1800 Metropolit

BACCHUS, NYMPH WITH A CHILD AND GRAPES

Claude Michel Clodion, ca. 1790-1800

Terracotta, H. 47 cm

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Objets d art Clodion Claude Michel Ivresse 1780 1790 Metropolitan (2).jpg

THE INTOXICATION OF WINE

Claude Michel Clodion, ca. 1780-1790

Terracotta, H. 58,4 cm

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Objets d art Clodion Claude Michel Bacchante Bacchus et un Faune c 1795 Norton Simon Found

BACCHANTE SUPPORTED BY BACCHUS AND A FAUN

Claude Michel Clodion, ca. 1795

Terracotta, H. 50,8 cm

Norton Simon Foundation, Los Angeles

ACROSS THE ARTS

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