Greek Apulian black-glazed guttus

Description

Greek Apulian black-glazed guttus,ca. 360 to 320 BCE
A lovely blackware guttus (or guttos)
A classic wheel-thrown pottery guttus – a vessel meant to fill oil lamps – enveloped with lustrous jet-black glaze save for a slender ring around the pedestal. The broad vessel exhibits an annular foot beneath a ribbed, discoid body, a protruding loop handle, and a tapered spout with a flared, everted rim. Protruding from the central tondo is a finely detailed portrait of Medusa, the mythical female monster with venomous snakes for hair and a gaze which could instantly turn a man to stone. The concept of a gorgon is at least as old as Homer and continued to be used as a monstrous symbol throughout the Roman and post-classical period, especially popular as decoration on pottery
loss to portion of foot, fading to tondo imagery, and some wear to glazed surfaces but in very good condition