Vessel with Two Feet

About this Brooklyn Icon

The Brooklyn Museum is commemorating its 200th anniversary by spotlighting 200 standout objects in its encyclopedic collection.

This captivating and playful pink earthenware vessel is in the form of a wine bag with two protruding legs and booted feet. This type of container is called a “wine leg,” and it served as a decanter for pouring and drinking wine. When poured into the top, wine would have spurted out of the tiny holes in the sole of each boot. The precise symbolic or religious meaning of these boot-and-leg-shape vessels is enigmatic. They were not practical for storage and were most likely used in wine and drinking rituals and ceremonies. Further clues can be found in later Persian texts, which suggest that drinking wine from vessels shaped like human legs and feet could remove the drinker’s grief. Even just beholding this wonderful container can elicit joy!

Most wine legs were probably created in an area southwest of the Caspian Sea that is now part of Iran. Iran has one of the richest and most ancient ceramic traditions in the world, noted for its artistry, innovation, and sometimes amusing forms. This example is only one of about 50 known ceramic Iranian wine legs.