Vatican Museums

The vessel reproduces, in an original and imaginative way, a charioteer driving a two-horse vehicle. The two horses’ heads have perforated mouths to allow liquid to flow out, and an opening to enable the vessel to be filled, closed with a cap in the shape of a lotus flower. The two liquids contained in the vessel remain separate. Masterly engravings richly decorate the entire surface. The flower engraved on the sides imaginatively evokes the wheel of the chariot. The Calabresi ampoule is a fine example of early bucchero work from ancient Caere. The craftsman has ably summarised and reworked motifs from the Orientalising repertoire (flowers, lotus flowers, the human figure, animals), and images of more ancient, protohistoric ancestry (zoomorphic vases and geometric decoration). The motif of the chariot – both military and parade vehicles – is linked to the activities and prerogatives of the Etruscan aristocratic world [cf. Regolini-Galassi Carts].