Skyphos on foot - Lead-glazed terracotta

Skyphos on foot.
Lead-glazed terracotta. Height 7,8 cm.
On the body, alternated, four Maenads, four times Silenus holding the infant Dionysos and three satyr masks.
1st century B.C. Asia Minor (probably Tarsos).
Complete but recomposed from three fragments. Small damage to one handle.

Lead-glazed pottery, first produced on a large scale during the 1st century B.C., began as an inexpensive substitute for silver. But it was still relatively costly and, in its turn, had to give way to even cheaper blown glass.