Red figure Aryballos with the armed owl
The armed owl that decorates the surface of this classical aryballos (perfumed oil flask) is based on a similar scene on a red figure skyphos (mug) from the Louvre Museum (CA2192), dating to the 425-375 BC.
The little owl, symbol of wisdom in Greek antiquity, is associated with the goddess Athena and the city of Athens since it appears on the tetradrachm coin from 500 BC (a copy of which appears on the modern Greek one-euro coin) and in a 5th-century B.C. bronze statue of Athena holding the bird in her hand.
Our aryballos is based on the shape of black glazed similar vases of the 5th cent BC.
H:9cm, MaxL:8cm