Etruscan / 470–450 BCE
Kottabos Element of a Dancing Satyr
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Kottabos Element of a Dancing Satyr as sculpture (Etruscan · 470–450 BCE).
This lively object was likely used to play a drinking game called kottabos .
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as bronze.
The museum's collection notes: This diminutive dancing satyr, identifiable by his snub nose and equine ears (though without a tail), lifts his leg and reaches with an upstretched arm toward a dish, now lost. The disc and cylinder on which he stands likely rested atop a much taller post, with a larger disc or dish below, as preserved in more complete examples and illustrated on numerous ancient vases. In the drinking game kottabos , known by its Greek name but also popular in Etruria, the goal was to knock a dish off its precarious perch, in this case the hand of the dancing satyr, using only the wine dregs in your cup.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtKottabos Element of a Dancing SatyrOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.