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Monday, April 27, 2020

Etruscan art resembling Pre-Columbian art of the ancient Americas?

The shape of this triple-necked oinochoe with globular belly is paralleled in a great number of other examples discovered in southern Etruria and the Faliscan region around Civita Castellana (Falerii Veteres). This oinochoe was probably made in this area in the early Orientalizing period, circa 710-670 BC. It was shaped by hand and is made of a heavy, unrefined clay that is quite a coarse brown in color. Standing on two feet wearing ankle boots, the belly is decorated with geometric motifs and figures scratched into the surface of the clay; this type of decoration is denoted 'incavo' in Italian.

Meander patterns and elongated rectangles occupy the upper portion of this vessel. The lower part of the belly is decorated with four monsters or four horses with schematic human figures riding them or above them. The rest of the decoration consists of five catlike creatures with speckled fur and two large birds with spread wings. The geometric motifs fall within the decorative tradition of the preceding period. - The Louvre

This unusual shape and the decorative motifs sort of reminded me of pre-Columbian art of the ancient Americas.

Triple-necked oinochoe with globular belly Etruscan 8th - 7th century BCE at The Louvre

Image courtesy of The Louvre.

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