Detail of a Black Figure Terracotta Neck Pelike in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2011

Terracotta neck-pelike (wine jar)

Period: Archaic

Date: ca. 500 B.C.

Culture: Greek, Attic

Medium: Terracotta; black-figure

Dimensions: Overall: 10 1/2 x 6in. (26.7 x 15.3cm) diameter 5 11/16in. (14.5cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1907

Accession Number: 07.286.72

Label: Musical contests: obverse, kithara player; reverse, youth singing to double flute

The platforms on which the performers stand indicate that they are participating in musical competitions. The figure on the obverse holds a kithara, the type of lyre used for performances. His pose and the wreath he wears suggest that he may already have won. The figures on the reverse are entirely absorbed, the flute player within himself, the boy projecting toward his audience.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/247952