drink to the dogs

Gift of Ernest Brummer, 1957 www.metmuseum.org

Perhaps this was a hunting cup: one hand on your weapons, one on your wine (so, one handled), and round the rim of the cup homage to the very dogs that were helping you chase down the prey.  This is a Greek skyphos, a deep cup, dating from the late 8th to the early 7th century B.C.   See where the handle's been placed?  Imagine holding that.  It probably helped stabilize the beverage.  Here's this item's original page at the Met if you would like to learn a little more.

a dove in gold

Unknown artist
Pin with a Finial Shaped as a Dove Sitting on Pomegranates, 525–400 B.C., Gold
7.7 × 0.8 × 0.5 cm (3 1/16 × 5/16 × 3/16 in.), 96.AM.256
Gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman
www.getty.edu

If this beautiful bird pin were mine, I could pin up my hair with it, or pin a loose dress together at my shoulder.  That's what its original owner, an Etruscan of 525-400 B.C. would have done.  Was she hoping to attract romance, or assured of it already?  Doves were favorites of Aphrodite/Venus, and pomegranates have symbolized beauty, love and fertility since the ancient Greeks.  Though the Etruscans lived in the area that eventually became Tuscany, they had transactions with expatriate Greek colonies in southern Italy.  I suspect that's where the idea for this imagery came from.  Just for the color and life  of it, I'll send you to this friendly article on pomegranate symbolism.

well guarded

Purchase, The Charles Engelhard Foundation Gift, 1989
www.metmuseum.org

An evil spirit would think twice about bringing pestilence to your door once it came up against this mastiff.  Dating from the Near Eastern Kassites of the 2nd millennia B.C., this mighty fellow is a sterling example of the culture's ceramic mastery.  He's all of 16.3 x 14.17 inches, but his presence is much bigger; I fully expected to hear he was closer to 3 feet tall.  The record for this work at the Met states that he may have been a guardian figure representing Gula, the goddess of healing.  As intimidating as he appears, I remind myself that his ferocity would be a source of security against the unknown powers of disease sneaking through the door.  You want a brave friend for that; here he is.

dog beads

The Reddit community r/Artefact Porn is not porn at all (well, it usually isn't, but some of those Roman murals...).  Rather, it's a collection of curious finds from anywhere and any time: a Scythian crown, an Italian boy's little armor, the ruins of Great Zimbabwe.  And an ancient dog head bead:

Egyptian/Phoenician Glass Dog Head Bead, 6th-4th century BC[539x381] from r/ArtefactPorn

this mouse is a roman flask

www.metmuseum.org
Gift of Renée E. and Robert A. Belfer, 2012

Fashioned by a Roman craftsman in the third century A.D., this graceful glass flask is unusual for several reasons.  It's a mouse, for one thing, with the flask's neck placed to serve as the tail.  It's cobalt blue.  Last but not least, it's embellished with an applied linear detail we currently call "snake-thread."  Read more about this piece here.  And if, like me, you were wondering "Which emperors were there in the third century A.D.?"  maybe this will help.

ancient leashes

Today I'm going to send you right over to Hyperallergic's article on a certain set of rock engravings found in the Arabic Peninsula. Created over 8,000 years ago, the hunting scenes show the very earliest evidence of dog leashes in use.  What an exciting find!

thoughtful mastiff from 2100 b.c.e.

Sumerian. Recumbent Dog, ca. 2100 B.C.E. Aragonite, 5 3/4 x 3 3/4 x 9 in. (14.6 x 9.5 x 22.9 cm).
Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 51.220.
Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 51.220_SL1.jpg)

What has he been guarding so carefully for four millenia, this thoughtful fellow?  At his page on the Brooklyn Museum's website you can see an additional image of him in black and white which really points up the wrinkles of his brow.  Measuring all of 5 3/4 x 3 3/4 x 9 in., this stout mastiff-type dog was sculpted during the Neo-Sumerian period, a time of order and calm exercise of power.  This webpage has more on that subject as well as a number of artworks, if you're interested.

handy handle dog

Unknown
Lid, 5th century B.C., Bronze
12.5 × 22.6 cm (4 15/16 × 8 7/8 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

If this is a lid for a lebes (a type of ancient Greek cauldron, used at one time for cooking), as is thought, then its Etruscan craftsman had a sense of humor when fashioning the handle.  Probably the model was flopped near the warmth of the metalsmithy, waiting for dinnertime and a chance to beg for some of whatever was in the family pot.

part of the family, 1st c bc

www.metmuseum.org
Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Gift, 1992

This terracotta relief shows a royal family taking their ease in the company of a few pets. There's mother, father, child, tubby dog having a howl (lower left, on a chain), ducks (lower right) and, partially missing, a monkey (just above the dog).  Expressive and even playful, this scene dates from India during the 1st century BC, and was found at the important Chandraketugarh archaeological site.  (Here is this object's page at the Metropolitan Museum of Art if you'd enjoy more source information.)  What sort of dog might have been around to pamper at that time and place? Sometimes the easiest answer makes the best sense: this looks to me like a well-fed Indian pariah dog, an ancient breed which would have been commonly available. 

cat and mouse, with a twist

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, www.brooklynmuseum.org (CC-BY)

Is it difficult to think that ancient people had a sense of humor?  The Egyptians certainly did, which isn't a surprising trait in such a rational and life-affirming civilization.  Here's a sketch to prove it:  a cat - note its lovely dotted coat, typical of an Egyptian Mau - offers goodies to an imperious mouse.  Wait, what? (There's more on the object record page at the Brooklyn Museum's site.)  It's sketched on an ostracon, which is a scrap of pottery or stone  used for notes or sketching; much cheaper than papyrus for tomfoolery.  Date on this funny scene? Around 1295-1075 B.C.E.

dog cameo

By Jonathan Cardy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],
 via Wikimedia Commons

The Wikipedia Commons page for this jewel states that this photo was taken at the Georgian National Museum.  While I wasn't able to find this item in the collections available online, I was intrigued by the Museum website - you should have a look.  There are many curious and beautiful items there.  Then you might like to read this essay at the Met about the history of cameos.  The Romans appreciated dogs for their fidelity among other reasons; I wonder if this was a gift to a wife.

a dog to guard your moisturizer

Walters Art Museum [Public domain, CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

This pyxis (lidded vessel) from Greece dates from the 4th century BC.  A pyxis was for the most part a useful little box such as I have in my own drawer, full of my earrings - but mine is absolutely not as fancy as this.  This could have held cosmetics, jewelry, anything small that you needed to grab.  Other areas of this box show a bull and a griffin, so I'm being flip and choosy to say this handsome fellow is guarding your facegoop - but his playful alertness makes me wake up a bit this morning, and a bit more ready to face the day.  The bull and griffin are beautiful too.  You can see them in the additional views of this piece at the Walters Art Museum's online collection.

friend

www.metmuseum.org. Rogers Fund, 1939

Mesopotamia, 8th - 7th century B.C.  Standing all of 2.75 inches tall, this bronze figurine was most likely a votive offering to the goddess Gula.  Gula began as Bau, the goddess of dogs (how do you like that onomatopoeia?), but over time people noticed that when dogs licked your sores, they seemed to heal better.  New job for Bau:  Gula, deity of healing.  Someone long ago either needed some healing or was grateful for it, and brought this pleasant little gesture of a sculpture to a temple as a please or thank you.

good morning

Fletcher Fund, 1929 www.metmuseum.org

I think Etruscan askoi flasks are my new favorite things this week.  This askos (flask) dates from the 4th century B.C., and is a stylistic adaptation from earlier Greek bird-shape vases.  Askoi were based on the shape of plump full wineskins, which look a lot like a sitting bird, and askoi were popularly made in the shape of ducks (also nice and plump).  This rooster is an unusual variant.  Look at his perfectly modelled comb.
Here is an article on Etruscan bird-askoi from the Penn Museum, and another on Etruscan pottery overall from the Ancient History encyclopedia online.

ancient dog bell

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eric Lidow (AC1998.251.46) www.lacma.org

This bronze bell, about 1.5" x 1.75", hung on the collar of a dog in late Shang Dynasty China.  That means the dog who wore this was trotting about going "ding ding ding" somewhere round 1300 to 1050 B.C.

a dog to ward off illness

© Trustees of the British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) 

Say you're a Babylonian living sometime round 700 - 500 BC, and you'd like to get or stay in the pink of health.  Here's something you do:  Get yourself one of these.  This is a gold amulet in the form of a sitting dog, thought to be representative of Gula, the goddess of healing.  Dogs were Gula's favored animal, and images of her often include one.
Want to see the original British Museum page for this?  Here.

2 young ones

www.metmuseum.org. Rogers Fund, 1913

Puppies and babies: best buddies since time immemorial, or at least in this case since sometime in the 1st century BC to the 2nd century AD.  The Met has this little bronze as "Greek or Roman," and it's true that during that stretch of time the two cultures were interleaving to a deep extent.  The realism and warmth you see here is as fresh as anything you might create today.  In fact, I'm surprised at how pudgy and winsome the unknown artist managed to make that puppy, since "cute" is not the first adjective generally springing to mind when one thinks about the Greco-Romans.