Terracotta vase in the form of a sleeping African (known as Ethiopian) boy

Terracotta vase in the form of a sleeping African (known as Ethiopian) boy

Africans in Ancient Greek Art

The sleeping boy's nakedness and exhausted state suggest that he is a slave or servant. Vases of this shape probably held perfumed oils.

The two objects I choose were an object of a bronze statue of an African boy and a Terracotta vase in the form of a sleeping African boy. Both of these objects shows us about everyday life in that period that Greeks looked down on Africans. In a way they used their sculptures to over exaggerate African features. The first object which is a bronze statue of an African boy who barely has any clothes on maybe indicating he’s a slave. The boy seems to be dirty and not have a lot of clothes, probably showing they were looked down on. The second sculpture is a terracotta vase of a little boy who also seems tired and poor. The fact that they made the vase out of a little African boy shows that they were not valued or respected. Showing that Greeks didn’t know much about them or had anyone to ask what their culture or values were. Overall both of these sculptures show how Greeks during the Hellenistic looked down or had no respect for Africans during that era.

Metropolitan Museum of art

Metropolitan Museum of art

The Cesnola Collection

ca. 3rd–2nd century B.C.

The Cesnola Collection, Metropolitan Museum of art

© 2000–2019 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All rights reserved.

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1878. Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations During Ten Years' Residence in That Island. p. 456, New York: Harper & Brothers.

H. 8 3/16 in. (20.8 cm)

English

Vases