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Ritual object with eleven birds on a wheel
Greek
Late Geometric Period
750–700 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens
Medium/Technique
Terracotta
Dimensions
Height: 6.50 cm (2 9/16 in.); diameter: 21.5 cm (8 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
John Michael Rodocanachi Fund
Accession Number28.49
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionEleven birds sit on this terracotta wheel, all facing outwards. They are rendered simply, as if perched with their wings tucked by their sides. The birds are decorated with stripes and dots, while the wheel they sit on is further painted with stripes and a checkerboard pattern. The underside of the wheel is also decorated with Geometric patterns including dotted leaves, cross-hatched triangles, and more checkerboard patterns. The wheel is pierced in several places, suggesting that this object could have been suspended by twine, making the underside visible to viewers. Another bird may have once sat in the center of the wheel.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: according to MFA archival card: from Phaleron; by 1928: with Seltman; purchased by MFA from Seltman, March 1, 1928, for $ 463.30