FIG. 30. BRONZE BEAKER
FIG. 31. BRONZE LADLE FOR WINE
FIG. 32. BRONZE WINE-STRAINER
The pottery in the various rooms of the collection shows the kinds of dishes in use in Greek and Italian houses. There are cups of different shapes, pitchers and jugs for water, wine, and other liquids, kraters (large bowls for mixing water and wine), plates for food, and lekythoi (oil-cruets) ([fig. 26]). The modern china, that is, high-fired pottery covered with a vitreous glaze, was not known, and glass did not become common until the Imperial period. In the Eighth Room and the corridor are many examples of the glass vessels of that time, some plain, others with ornaments in relief, and still others of colored glass in patterns of remarkable beauty (Cases N and O in the Eighth Room). Much of the plain glass has become iridescent owing to exposure to damp in graves. The pottery in museum collections is naturally the finer product of the workshop; receptacles for storing and for kitchen use were of undecorated clay and more carelessly made. In the Cesnola Collection on the tops of Cases 58-63 are some of the tall jars, called pithoi by the Greeks and dolia by the Romans, which were used for storing and exporting wine, grain, and many other articles, taking the place of the casks, barrels, and boxes, and the paper bags and cartons of modern times. The pointed ends were driven into earthen floors.
FIG. 33. ROMAN SILVER CUP