Before and after of a reconstruction to an owl-shaped protocorinthian aryballos, ca. 630 BC. Opening in the tail, hole in the basis to suspend by a lace. Now on display at the Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich, Germany.
Second image: Our t-shirt designs inspired by Owl of Athena - archaeostore.com
An aryballos (Greek: ἀρύβαλλος; plural aryballoi) was a small spherical or globular flask with a narrow neck used in Ancient Greece. It was used to contain perfume or oil, and is often depicted in vase paintings being used by athletes during bathing.
The shape of the aryballos originally came from the oinochoe of the Geometric period of the 9th century BC, a globe-shaped wine jar. By the Proto-Corinthian period of the following century, it had attained its definitive shape, going from spherical to ovoid to conical, and finally back to spherical. This definitive form has a wide, flat mouth, and a single small handle. Some later variations have bell-shaped mouths, a second handle, and/or a flat base. Potters also created inventive shapes for aryballoi.