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Identification and Creation

Object Number
24.1908
Title
Toy Chous (Juglet): Child Training a Dog
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
c. 420 BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Attica
Period
Classical period, High
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/287257

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta
Technique
Black-figure
Dimensions
5.8 × 5.5 cm (2 5/16 × 2 3/16 in.)

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Beazley Archive Database #13419

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Loan from Estate of Donald Upham and Mrs. R. U. Hunter
Object Number
24.1908
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Small trefoil-mouthed chous (juglet); decoration in Six's Technique (added paint and yellowish diluted gloss): child training a dog. Handle missing.
Commentary
This little jug or pitcher depicts a boy feeding, teasing, or training a dog with food. This miniature pitcher shape is called a “chous” in ancient Greek. Made in Athens, this vessel type was popular in the late 5th century BCE.
These little pitchers are connected to a spring festival in Athens called the Anthesteria, a festival of Dionysos that was especially connected to the new wine of the year and the arrival of spring. Some scholars have suggested that these little pitchers were used in festival ritual for the first taste of wine for three-year old children. They are often decorated, appropriately, with child-related themes such as this.
The little dog is a type known in antiquity as a Melitan (Maltese) dog. It is commonly depicted as a pet in ancient Greek art (see the grave stele of Melisto, 1961.86, for another depiction of a child teasing a Melitan dog in the collection).

Publication History

  • George M. A. Hanfmann, Greek Art and Life, An Exhibition Catalogue, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1950), no. 142.
  • Jenifer Neils and John Oakley, Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past, Yale University Press (U.S.) (New Haven, 2003), pp. 146, 285, cat. 95
  • Louise Calder, Cruelty and Sentimentality: Greek Attitudes to Animals, 600-300 BC, Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. (Oxford, 2011)

Exhibition History

  • Greek Art and Life: From the Collections of the Fogg Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Private Lenders, Fogg Art Museum, 03/07/1950 - 04/15/1950
  • Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past, Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, 08/23/2003 - 12/14/2003; Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, New York, 01/20/2004 - 04/15/2004; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, 05/21/2004 - 08/01/2004; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 09/14/2004 - 12/16/2004
  • A World Within Reach: Greek and Roman Art from the Loeb Collection, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/28/2023 - 05/07/2023

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu