Kottabos Element of a Dancing Satyr

470–450 BCE

Etruscan

Medium

bronze

Measurements

Overall: 15 cm (5 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1974.16

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Location

001A ArtLens Exhibition

Did You Know?

This lively object was likely used to play a drinking game called kottabos.

Description

This diminutive dancing satyr, identifiable by his snub nose and equine ears (though without a tail), lifts his leg and reaches with an upstretched arm toward a dish, now lost. The disc and cylinder on which he stands likely rested atop a much taller post, with a larger disc or dish below, as preserved in more complete examples and illustrated on numerous ancient vases. In the drinking game kottabos, known by its Greek name but also popular in Etruria, the goal was to knock a dish off its precarious perch, in this case the hand of the dancing satyr, using only the wine dregs in your cup.