Unknown Maker, Campanian

The flask depicts Charon, ferryman of the dead. He prepares to transport the soul of the woman standing on the bank of the river Styx. To pay Charon’s fare, a coin would be placed in a corpse’s mouth. Lekythoi filled with olive oil were popular gifts for the dead, and many were buried in tombs.

Pegasus, a winged horse, was the bearer of thunder and lightning for the Greek god Zeus. In a funerary context, the horses flying around this bronze vessel might be transporting the dead to the realm of the gods. Terracotta or hammered bronze dinoi sometimes held the ashes of the deceased.

—GB

This vessel of hammered bronze is delicately engraved on the shoulder with a tongue pattern and a band of honeysuckle. The four winged horses (pegasoi) galloping on the molded rim are statuettes representing a mythical breed of horses popular in antiquity. Remains of a knob, now lost, are still visible on the lid. Dinoi (plural of dinos) made of terracotta and bronze were used as funerary urns during the 6th and 5th centuries BC. They were also awarded as prizes at games, including funeral games honoring the deceased. This dinos now rests on a modern ring stand, replicating how it would have stood in a tomb or a sanctuary nearly 2,500 years ago.