Vessel Ornament of Banqueter Holding an Omphalos (probably 400–375 BCE): Art, History and Details

Vessel Ornament of Banqueter Holding an Omphalos (probably 400–375 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This bronze banqueter figurine was one of six once adorning the rim of a large basin, now lost. Cast in molds with individualized details, most have grooves on their underside to attach to the basin. Minute traces of gilding remain on areas of clothing and skin (mostly visible only under magnification), suggesting that they may have been completely gilded. Two handles in the form of hippocampi, horses with serpentine tails, also belonged to the basin and are now displayed at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. The basin may have been used to hold liquid for a banquet, or was perhaps funerary. This bronze figurine holds a phiale mesomphalos, a shallow wine bowl, in his right hand. The vessel is tilted upward as if to spill its contents, perhaps as a libation for the gods. Traces of gilding remain in the corners of the phiale mesomphalos and the figurine’s drapery. His left hand rests against a fold of cloth slipping over his shoulder. A garland lies on his bare chest and another crowns his head. The banqueter shares many similarities with 1987.158.

Object facts

• Title: Vessel Ornament of Banqueter Holding an Omphalos
• Date: probably 400–375 BCE
• Culture: Etruscan
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 2 cm (13/16 in.)
• Collection: GR - Etruscan
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1987.157

A detail from the museum

Though primarily associated with dedicatory libations, the phiale mesomphalos could also be used for drinking.

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. Ernest Brummer

Further reading listed by the museum

• Casa di Vendite Jandolo et Tavazzi (Rom). Catalogo delle pregevoli collezioni di oggetti d'arte e mobili antichi, spettanti al Signor Marchese di Rioffreddo ed ai Signori Gagliardi di Firenze. [1], [1]. 1908.
• The Brummer Gallery Records. Cloisters (Museum), n.d.
• Galerie Koller Zürich. The Ernest Brummer Collection, Vol I: Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art. 1979.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.