What is "oenochoe"

An oenochoe, also spelled oinochoe (; from oînos, "wine" and khéō, "I pour"; plural oenochoai or oinochoai), is a wine jug and a key form of ancient Greek pottery. There are many different forms of oenochoe; Sir John Beazley distinguished ten types. The earliest is the olpe (ὀλπή, olpḗ), with no distinct shoulder and usually a handle rising above the lip. The "type 8 oenochoe" is what we would call a mug, with no single pouring point and a slightly curved profile. The chous (pl. choes) was a squat rounded form, with trefoil mouth. Small examples with scenes of children, as in the example illustrated, were placed in the graves of children.

Oenochoai may be decorated or undecorated. Oenochoai typically have only one handle at the back and may include a trefoil mouth and pouring spout. Their size also varies considerably; most, at up to 25 cm tall, could be comfortably held and poured with one hand, but there are much larger examples.

Most Greek oenochoe were in painted terracotta pottery but metal oenochoai were probably also common among the better off, though as with other vessel shapes, few have survived. Again as with other shapes, large versions in stone were sometimes used as grave markers, often carved with reliefs. In pottery, some oinochoai are "plastic", with the body formed as sculpture, usually one or more human heads.

Image:Tithonos_Eos_Louvre_G438.jpg|Oinochoe Shape 1, H. 22 cm (8 ½ in.), Diam. 13.5 cm (5 ¼ in.), Eos (Dawn) pursuing Tithonus. Attic red-figure, 470–460 BC Image:Lampadedromia Louvre N3357.jpg|Oinochoe Shape 2, H. 23.5 cm (9 ¼ in.), Diam. 14.3 cm (5 ½ in.), Attic, 4th century Image:Oinoche_Anthesteria_Louvre_L71.jpg|Oinochoe Shape 3, H. 10.5 cm (4 in.); Diam. 8.1 cm (3 in.) Image:Javelin thrower Louvre G243.jpg|Oinochoe Shape 7, H. 21 cm (8 ¼ in.), Diam. 12.8 cm (5 in.), Javelin thrower. Attic red-figured, ca. 450 BC jug Antikensammlung Kiel B 21.jpg|Shape 8, 8th century BC Image:Olpe riders Louvre E647.jpg|Olpe, Corinthian, c. 575-c. 550 BC, Height: 25.2 cm (9.9 in). Diameter: 13.1 cm (5.2 in) - Wine Jug with Boy Riding Goat - Walters 4895.jpg|Chous, last decade of the 5th century BC, 9.1 × 7 cm (3.6 × 2.8 in). Probably used in a child's grave. vase in the shape of female head.jpg|Plastic version with woman's head - Piraeus Arch. Museum, Athens - Funerary oinochoe - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 14 2009.jpg|Funerary oinochoe, with "farewell" scene with a deceased woman, third quarter of the 4th century BC | Bronze oenochoe, Nova Zagora, Bulgaria, with a trefoil spout - Oinochoe.jpg|thumb| Archaic period, 750-600 BC oinochoe erótico 01.JPG| Oinochoe by the Shuvalov Painter (Berlin F2414) with famous erotic scene Inscription.JPG|The Dipylon Inscription, c. 740 BC, perhaps the earliest datable Greek writing , ibex lions, Otterlo Painter, late 7th c BC, Prague Kinsky, NM-H10 4794, 140818.jpg|Squat oinochoe, with ibex and lions, Otterlo Painter, late 7th c BC red-figure Oinochoe by the White Saccos Workshop Antikensammlung Kiel B 904.jpg| Apulian red-figure Oinochoe by the White Saccos Workshop Odysseus Ajax Louvre F340.jpg|Dispute between Ajax and Odysseus for Achilles' armour. Attic black-figure oinochoe, ca. 520 BC. Kalos inscription. H. 20 cm (7 ¾ in.), Diam. 13.7 cm (5 ¼ in.)