An Attic head-vase Oinochoe

A beautifully proportioned head vase of the “Cook class.” Such vases (with mould-made and wheel-made components) were especially popular in the 5th century B.C., and the most common examples feature the head of a woman. Here her hair is parted centrally, thick strands over the ears. The eyelids and eyes are marked by black slip with added white over the sclerae. The vases’ elegant neck, trefoil mouth, and swooping upswung handle are in a lustrous black glaze.