Ladle cup

Ultima modifica 10 dicembre 2024

Small container with handle that was used to draw liquids from larger containers.
It’s kind of the ancestor of our kitchen ladle.

Like the original, the cup here present was made by hand, through the so-called technique of the “colombino', which involves the construction of long clay cords rolled one over the other and then smoothed together with wet hands.

The connection points between the different “colombini” (the clay cords) are no longer perceptible to the touch because the surface of the vase in the final phase of its processing is smoothed. In this case the surface takes on an almost glossy effect thanks to a very accurate sanding, called burnishing.
This type of operation makes the entire surface less porous, more waterproof and therefore more suitable for holding liquids.

On the bottom there is the omphalos (onfalo or navel) a recess that played a helping role in the processing of the vase because it allowed to hold it with one hand while the other inserted a finger in the external depression and the thumb on the edge.

The cup was found in tomb nr 21, which housed the body of a woman. There was a rich ornamental set, including earrings, many bronze fibulae, a torques (a type of rigid necklace), necklaces, armillae, some pendants and numerous vases of both ceramic and bronze.

Dating: sixth  century BC