Vatican Museums

Fifteen metallic vessels make up the symposium service unearthed in the Bolsena tomb, in the Vietena quarter, discovered by Domenico Golini in 1856. The golden colour of the alloy, which has survived in parts, imitates that of even more valuable vessels. We know the name of the owner, Laris Havrenie, or Laris Harente, cited only in the inscriptions of three vessels along with the inscription śuthina (= for the tomb), underlining its funerary function; the word śuthina alone is inscribed on a further nine vessels. The forms are diversified according to their use: two oinochoai to hold and pour wine; three situlæ for water; two strainers to filter wine; a krater to mix water and wine; four olpai to draw liquid; and three basins or pateræ to contain liquid and possibly for libation. The set is reminiscent of the Hellenic and aristocratic practice of the symposium, which involved the consumption of wine alone, made by the Etruscans themselves, with a predominant symbolic and ritual aspect. These vessels were fixed inside the tomb using nails, to make them unusable in practice and to consecrate them to the sphere of the Underworld.