The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Oil Ampulla in the Form of a Dancing Bear

Oil Ampulla in the Form of a Dancing Bear

200s CE
Overall: 14.6 x 10.4 x 9.5 cm (5 3/4 x 4 1/8 x 3 3/4 in.)
Location: 103 Roman

Did You Know?

This ampulla was likely used to carry oil to the baths in antiquity.

Description

This bronze bear sits on its hindquarters with its front paws raised, head slightly turned left, and mouth gaping open. It wears a collar around its neck with two rings on either side, where a chain would be passed through to suspend the ampulla. The bear’s head is hinged at the back of the collar to open the vessel, with the lower jaw forming a spout. The eyes were once pierced to prevent an airlock within the ampulla. Bears, like many other animals in antiquity, were used as a form of entertainment, demonstrated here by the bear’s “dancing” pose.
  • c. 1967
    Istanbul
    DeClerq Collection
    ?-1972
    (Mathias Komor, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1972-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1972." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 60, no. 3 (1973): 63-115. p. 67 www.jstor.org
    "États-Unis Acquisitions des Musées," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, No. 1249 (Feb. 1973) p. 105, no. 374
    Kozloff, Arielle P. "A Bronze Menagerie." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 63, no. 3 (1976): 75-88. pp. 84-86 www.jstor.org
    "Recent Acquisitions of American and Canadian Museums." The Art Quarterly XXXVI no. 1/2 (Spring/Summer 1976). p. 112 & 121
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 28 archive.org
    Kathman, Barbara A. A Cleveland Bestiary. Cleveland, OH; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. Reproduced: p. 39; Mentioned: p. 39, p. 62
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 14 archive.org
  • A Cleveland Bestiary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15-December 16, 1981).
    Echoes from Olympus: Reflections of Divinity in Small-Scale Classical Art. University of California, Berkeley. University Art Museum, Berkeley, CA (organizer) (August 15-December 15, 1974).
    Echoes from Olympus: The Minot Arts of Classical Antiquity, University of California Art Museum, Berkeley, CA (Aug. 15 - Dec. 15, 1974).
    Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).
  • {{cite web|title=Oil Ampulla in the Form of a Dancing Bear|url=false|author=|year=200s CE|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.102