Terracotta epinetron (leg guard used in carding wood)

UO-MCA-MET-10-210-13.jpg

Title

Terracotta epinetron (leg guard used in carding wood)

Date

circa 510-500 BCE

Creator

Golonos Group (akin to)
Greek, Attic

Coverage

Style/Period: Archaic
Discovery Site: Said to be from Thebes
Repository: Greek and Roman Art Department, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Rogers Fund, 1910.
Accession Number: 10.210.13

Type

decorative art; tools, equipment and materials

Format

terracotta (clay material); black-figure
10 1/2 inches (26.7 cm) long; 5 1/4 inches (13.4 cm) in greatest diameter

Description

"On each side, women working wool. Producing cloth for garments and other fabrics needed in a household was a significant task for women. It required special equipment such as a loom and loomweights as well as this utensil, known as an onos or epinetron. It is a generally semicircular tile that is closed at one end. It was placed over the lower thigh and knee. Although its exact function is not clear, the roughened upper surface suggests that it served to prepare wool for spinning." (Metropolitan Museum of Art 2019)

Identifier

UO-MCA-MET-10-210-13

Source

Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2019. “Terracotta onos (leg guard used in carding wool), ca. 510-500 B.C.” Metmuseum. Accessed March 29.  https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/248298.