Terracotta perfume flask in the shape of a shoe

Terracotta perfume flask in the shape of a shoe

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The object consists of a small alabastron (perfume vase) that has been inserted into the opening of the shoe. The name inscribed on the side, Hekataiou, gives the name of the owner, a man named Hekataios.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta perfume flask in the shape of a shoeTerracotta perfume flask in the shape of a shoeTerracotta perfume flask in the shape of a shoeTerracotta perfume flask in the shape of a shoeTerracotta perfume flask in the shape of a shoe

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.