The spherical body with a sphinx facing left, her wings spread, flanked by two panthers; thin bands above and below, radiating tongues on the shoulders and on the rim with dots on overhang, three circular lines underneath the base.
Extremely fine work with detailed incision lines and addition of red pigment for details
Note
The aryballos helped maintain the hygiene of an athlete, before and after training or competing. In Ancient Greece, the Olympic games were held in summer at the hottest time of the year, and this small flask contained olive oil with which the athlete would have coated his body before exercising in order to prevent dehydration, as well as dirt entering the pores of the skin. In Antiquity, the athletes trained and competed naked in the blazing sun and so the olive oil massage would have helped to relax the muscles, as well as maintain hygiene.
