id:			156289
accession number:	1992.125
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1992.125
updated:		2020-11-04 21:34:43.258000

Face Urn, 25-50. Rhenish (Cologne), Gallo Roman, 2nd quarter, 1st Century. Reddish ware with gray burnished slip; diameter: 19.5 cm (7 11/16 in.); overall: 19 x 20 cm (7 1/2 x 7 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1992.125

title:				Face Urn
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			25-50
creation date earliest:		25
creation date latest:		50
current location:		103 Roman
creditline:			John L. Severance Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Rhenish (Cologne), Gallo Roman, 2nd quarter, 1st Century
technique:	reddish ware with gray burnished slip
department:	Greek and Roman Art
collection:	GR - Roman
type:		Ceramic
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Diameter: 19.5 cm (7 11/16 in.); Overall: 19 x 20 cm (7 1/2 x 7 7/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Selected Acquisitions
	opening date:   1993-02-09T05:00:00
	<i>Selected Acquisitions</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 9-April 11, 1993).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* CMA 1993:  "Selected Acquisitions," Bull., 80 (Feb. 1993), p. 65, no. 5, repr. p 41

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PROVENANCE

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fun fact: 
The anthropomorphized decoration of this vase may have been an attempt to ward off evil spirits.

digital description: 


wall description: 
The work of Roman potters is very different from that of their Greek predecessors. Greek clay had allowed potters to throw thin-walled ceramics. Slips (paint) made from this clay had permitted painters to draw complicated scenes and figures with infinite care. As the Roman empire grew to include Germany and Britain, local clays found there were better for producing heavier pottery with three-dimensional decoration like the vases shown here. These jars—decorated with a human face (1992.125), animals (1992.126), a feather pattern (1992.183), a wheat pattern (1992.124), and vertical ribs (1992.127.a) were probably filled with foods or liquids and given either as gifts to an elaborate burial or as offerings to a god's shrine.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Turner, Evan H. "The Year in Review for 1992." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 80, no. 2 (1993): 38-79.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 41; Mentioned: p. 41, 65
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/25161388

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1992.125/1992.125_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1992.125/1992.125_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1992.125/1992.125_full.tif