Wild boars were a favorite motif in classical antiquity, but this vessel has long puzzled scholars. Its brown, burnished surface, with incised geometric decoration, recalls Etruscan impasto pottery from as early as the seventh century BC. The naturalistic shape of the boar, however, resembles terracotta vessels made in the fifth century BC or later. Recent scientific analysis suggests that this vessel may have been made in the 20th century, and our curators and conservators are continuing their research.

<i>Year in Review: 1977</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978).

Year in Review: 1977

<i>Stories from Storage</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).

Stories from Storage

A blotchy brown terracotta vessel shaped like a boar features a cylindrical spout sticking up from its back. Incised rows of cream-colored hash marks create geometric designs on the body. Diagonal lines of hash marks extend across the boar's fin-like spine, interrupted by the spout. Naturalistic, the boar has wide eyes and short tusks, pushing the skin around them up into folds.

Mathias Komor, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

A vessel like this would have held oil in classical antiquity. This one may have been made in the 1900s.

Spout

Incised geometric decoration is typical of Etruscan impasto pottery, which has a burnished, or polished, surface. 

Decoration 

The naturalism, or lifelikeness, of this boar was typical of pottery made hundreds of years after the Etruscans.

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Vessel in the Shape of a Wild Boar

Italy, Etruscan or modern forgery

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Description