An oenochoe, also spelled oinochoe ( grc,
οἰνοχόη; from grc,
οἶνος ''oînos'', "wine" and grc,
χέω ''khéō'', "I pour," sense "wine-pourer"; plural ''oinochoai'';
New Latin
New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...
''oenochoë,'' plural ''oenochoae,'' English plural ''oenochoes'' or ''oinochoes''), is a
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
jug
A jug is a type of container commonly used to hold liquids. It has an opening, sometimes narrow, from which to pour or drink, and has a handle, and often a pouring lip. Jugs throughout history have been made of metal, and ceramic, or glass, and ...
and a key form of
ancient Greek pottery
Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has exe ...
. Intermediate between a
pithos (large storage vessel) or
amphora (transport vessel), and individual cups or bowls, it held fluid for several persons temporarily until it could be poured. The term ''oinos'' (Linear B wo-no) appears in Mycenaean Greek, but not the compound. The characteristic form was popular throughout the Bronze Age, especially at prehistoric
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
. In classical times for the most part the term ''oinochoe'' implied the distribution of wine. As the word began to diversify in meaning, the shape became a more important identifier than the word. The oinochoe could pour any fluid, not just wine. The English word, pitcher, is perhaps the closest in function.
Beazley's ten types
There are many different forms of oenochoae; Sir
John Beazley
Sir John Davidson Beazley, (; 13 September 1885 – 6 May 1970) was a British classical archaeologist and art historian, known for his classification of Attic vases by artistic style. He was Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art at the Un ...
distinguished ten types. The earliest is the olpe (ὀλπή, ''olpḗ''), with no distinct shoulder and usually a handle rising above the lip. The "type 8 ''oenochoe''" is what one would call a mug, with no single pouring point and a slightly curved profile. The ''chous'' (χοῦς; pl. choes) was a squat rounded form, with
trefoil
A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...
mouth. Small examples with scenes of children, as in the example illustrated, were placed in the graves of children.
Characteristics of oenochoae
Oenochoae may be decorated or undecorated. They typically have only one handle, which may be opposite a trefoil mouth and pouring spout. At its most distinct development, the trefoil mouth offers three alternative directions of pouring, one opposite the handle, and two to the side, an advantage at a crowded table not afforded by English pitchers. Their size also varies considerably; most, at up to tall, could be comfortably held and poured with one hand, but there are much larger examples.
Most Greek oenochoae were in
terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
, but oenochoae of precious metals were not unknown, presumably among elements of society that could afford them, though but few have survived.
Silver 'oinochoe'
from the "Tomb of Philip" at Vergina, accessdate=2015-06-24 Large versions in stone were sometimes used as grave markers, often carved with relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
s. In pottery, some oinochoai are "plastic", with the body formed as sculpture, usually one or more human heads.
Prehistoric oenochoae were at first hand-made, unpolished, and undecorated. Low-economy oenochoae remained so, but gradually incised bands with simple motifs such as zig-zags and spirals, or burnished, monochrome surfaces, became common. In the Late Bronze Age the incised bands were painted for a more striking surface, and from then on the Greek oinochoai followed the traditional course of development for Greek decoration. Among the higher-quality pots, quite a few masterpieces have survived.
Gallery of oenochoae
Image:Tithonos_Eos_Louvre_G438.jpg, Oinochoe Shape 1, H. 22 cm (8 ½ inches), diam. 13.5 cm (5 ¼ in.), Eos (Dawn) pursuing Tithonus. Attic red-figure, 470–460 BC
Image:Lampadedromia Louvre N3357.jpg, Oinochoe Shape 2, H. 23.5 cm (9 ¼ in.), diam. 14.3 cm (5 ½ in.), Attic, 4th century
Image:Oinoche_Anthesteria_Louvre_L71.jpg, Oinochoe Shape 3, H. 10.5 cm (4 in.); Diam. 8.1 cm (3 in.)
Image:Javelin thrower Louvre G243.jpg, Oinochoe Shape 7, H. 21 cm (8 ¼ in.), diam. 12.8 cm (5 in.), Javelin thrower. Attic red-figured, ca. 450 BC
File:Geometric jug Antikensammlung Kiel B 21.jpg, Shape 8, 8th century BC
Image:Olpe riders Louvre E647.jpg, Olpe, Corinth
Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...
ian, c. 575–c. 550 BC, height: 25.2 cm (9.9 in). Diameter: 13.1 cm (5.2 in)
File:Greek - Wine Jug with Boy Riding Goat - Walters 4895.jpg, ''Chous'', last decade of the 5th century BC, 9.1 × 7 cm (3.6 × 2.8 in). Probably used in a child's grave.
File:Attic vase in the shape of female head.jpg, Plastic version with woman's head
File:7248 - Piraeus Arch. Museum, Athens - Funerary oinochoe - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 14 2009.jpg, Funerary oinochoe, with "farewell" scene with a deceased woman, third quarter of the 4th century BC
File:Nova-Zagora-history-museum-oinochoe-1.jpg, Bronze oenochoe, Nova Zagora, Bulgaria, with a trefoil spout
File:LMM - Oinochoe.jpg, Archaic period, 750–600 BC
File:Berlín oinochoe erótico 01.JPG, Oinochoe by the Shuvalov Painter (Berlin F2414)
The Oinochoe by the Shuvalov Painter in the Antikensammlung at Berlin (inventory number ''F 2414'') is an erotic depiction from ancient Greek vase painting.
Description
The rather small oinochoe was found in Locri in southern Italy. The clay j ...
with famous erotic scene
File:Dipylon Inscription.JPG, The Dipylon Inscription, c. 740 BC, perhaps the earliest datable Greek writing
File:Oinochoe, ibex lions, Otterlo Painter, late 7th c BC, Prague Kinsky, NM-H10 4794, 140818.jpg, Squat oinochoe, with ibex and lions, Otterlo Painter, late 7th c BC
File:Apulian red-figure Oinochoe by the White Saccos Workshop Antikensammlung Kiel B 904.jpg, Apulian red-figure Oinochoe by the White Saccos Workshop
File:Oinochoe Odysseus Ajax Louvre F340.jpg, Dispute between Ajax and Odysseus for Achilles' armour. Attic black-figure oinochoe, ca. 520 BC. Kalos inscription. H. 20 cm (7 ¾ in.), diam. 13.7 cm (5 ¼ in.)
Oinochoe iberico cartagena.jpg, Iberian oinochoe with vegetal decoration, Cartagena
See also
* Typology of Greek vase shapes
The pottery of ancient Greece has a long history and the form of Greek vase shapes has had a continuous evolution from Minoan pottery down to the Hellenistic period. As Gisela Richter puts it, the forms of these vases find their "happiest expres ...
* Corpus vasorum antiquorum
Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum ("corpus of ancient vases"; abbreviated CVA) is an international research project for documentation of ancient ceramics. Its original ideal target content: any ceramic from any ancient location during any archaeological ...
* Ancient Greek vase painting
* Pottery of ancient Greece
References
External links
*
{{Greek vase shapes
Storage vessels
Ancient Greek pot shapes
Wine packaging and storage