Rooster-shaped askos based on a Pompeii original
In brief
This rooster-shaped askos is a zoomorphic pouring and serving vessel of clay, modelled on an original from the Thermopolium of Asellina in Pompeii. The original carries inventory number 13350 in the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei and dates to the 1st century AD. Made in a French workshop, the replica picks up the rooster form and addresses civilian reenactors with tavern or household impressions.
The rooster askos at a glance
-
Authenticity level: Historical replica (level 2), clay after model Inv. 13350, modern workshop production in France, no food-contact certification
-
Material: clay, fired, simple surface treatment
-
Dimensions and weight: height 20 cm, length 22 cm, width 11 cm; weight depends on production batch, in the range typical for clay vessels of this size
-
Dating of the original: 1st century AD, buried by the Vesuvian eruption of AD 79
-
Best-known model: rooster-shaped askos from the Thermopolium of Asellina, Pompeii, Regio IX, Insula 11, no. 2, Via dell'Abbondanza
-
Ancient source: Petronius, Satyricon 74,1-3 (the rooster as omen sinistrum at Trimalchio's banquet)
-
Suitable impression: civilian caupo, tabernarius or Pompeian household of the second half of the 1st century AD
What was a rooster-shaped serving vessel in the Pompeian tavern setting?
In the 1st century AD, an L-shaped counter at the tavern of Asellina along the Via dell'Abbondanza held a zoomorphic pouring and serving vessel in rooster form. The original carries inventory number 13350 today and is documented in the holdings of the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei. The museological assignment is clear: a pouring and serving vessel for liquids, addressed in scholarship as askos or rhyton interchangeably.
The piece thus belongs to the table and counter equipment of an urban caupona, not to the dolia fixed into the counter. As Andrew Wallace-Hadrill notes in Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum (1994) on the architecture of urban taverns, the counter served as both display surface and sales point. On precisely this counter, the rooster vessel had its place, visible to passing customers.
Asellina thermopolium, not Regio V wall painting
A common online conflation does not cleanly separate the two Pompeian rooster finds. In the Thermopolium of Regio V, fully excavated in 2020, the rooster is recorded as a two-dimensional counter painting; in the Asellina thermopolium, by contrast, as a three-dimensional clay vessel. The model for the replica offered here is unequivocally the Asellina piece.
Function: wine, water, perhaps gesture
Older scholarship has also discussed the Asellina askos as a hand-washing basin or as a container for fermented fish sauce. The museologically tenable classification today, in the Vinum exhibition context (Museo Galileo, Section VII Grapes and Wine in Pompeii), consistently treats the piece as a pouring and serving vessel. Which specific liquid it last held is not directly recorded.
-
Original dimensions: no object-specific measurements are published for Inv. 13350; the replica follows a typological approximation
-
Original material: terracotta, Vesuvian ware group
-
Dating window: at the latest AD 79, most likely from the late Neronian to early Flavian period
-
Find context: tavern furniture with four counter dolia, amphorae, bronze lamp and table service, preserved in situ
Comparison of Pompeian rooster finds
| Find |
Dating |
Medium |
Find context |
Function |
| Rooster-shaped askos, Inv. 13350 (model for the replica) |
1st century AD |
terracotta, three-dimensional |
Thermopolium of Asellina, Pompeii IX.11.2 |
pouring and serving vessel for liquids |
| Rooster wall painting on the L-shaped counter |
before AD 79 |
fresco on counter, two-dimensional |
Thermopolium Regio V, Pompeii |
decorative advertising, food offer |
| Rooster bronze statuette, table accessory |
1st century AD |
solid cast, bronze |
Pompeian table furnishings, MANN Naples |
table accessory, apotropaic element |
| Rooster as omen at the Cena Trimalchionis |
after AD 65 (literary) |
text, Petronius Satyricon 74 |
Campanian banquet setting, fictional |
omen sinistrum, rooster symbolism |
The rooster askos in tavern and table portrayals
The rooster askos draws attention in camp and presentation work whenever it sits on a narrow counter ledge or a low table edge, ideally with a sight line into a public viewing distance of two to three metres. From that distance the rooster silhouette reads instantly, the zoomorphic double character (animal and vessel) becomes legible at once. Anyone tucking the piece deeper into a crowded table loses that effect.
Suitable impression: civilian caupo, tabernarius, Pompeian household, second half of the 1st century AD | Field of use: table, counter and display-case display in the presentation context, no active pouring of liquids | Usability: prop without food contact, separate information sheet supplied with delivery
-
Table staging: place on a Pompeian table between Terra Sigillata and a plain jug, slightly raised on a wooden tray so the spout does not overhang the table edge
-
Counter position: on the counter rim of a reconstructed caupona or market-stall set-up; the piece works as a visual sales argument for the serving function without being in active service
-
Educational hook: as a conversation object in dialogue with the public (open question: what do you think the function was?), bridge to the Petronius passage and the Asellina find
-
Known weaknesses of the reconstruction: The dimensions of the replica (20 x 22 x 11 cm) follow a typological approximation to Inv. 13350; a 1:1 measurement against the original has not been published in museological literature. The modern clay vessel is not certified for food contact and therefore stays in static display use, even though the ancient model carried a real serving function. Detail fidelity at feathers, eye and base orients itself by the Pio Foglia photograph, not by a measured drawing.
What applications is the rooster askos suited for?
- If a strictly find-based Pompeii presentation is on the agenda, the piece is set: a concrete inventory object with verified Asellina provenance, dating-stable in the 1st century AD
- For broader civilian imperial portrayals (early to middle Empire, Italian peninsula or western provinces) the vessel remains tenable, because zoomorphic serving vessels were widespread in the Mediterranean; the further from Campania, the more readily it is narrated as an import piece
- For purely military marching-camp portrayals the piece is misplaced; it belongs to civilian table, tavern and household contexts
For collectors and history enthusiasts (secondary and tertiary audience): the piece carries display-case weight as a Pompeian table object with a verified inventory number, without an active presentation impression having to be built around it.
Frequently asked questions about the rooster askos
Which civilian impression suits a rooster askos on the table?
Coherent choices are caupo and tabernarius portrayals with a Pompeian connection, alongside more prosperous household impressions from the second half of the 1st century. In urban Roman or provincial portrayals, the askos works as an import piece from Campania, then with a brief note on the region of origin. For purely military marching portrayals, it does not fit.
How does the replica differ from the original from the Asellina?
The original (Inv. 13350) is an ancient clay piece from the Vesuvian ware group with a genuine serving function. The replica picks up the rooster silhouette, comes from a modern French workshop and is not certified for food contact. No object-specific measured drawing of the original has been published; the replica is therefore a typological approximation, not a 1:1 copy.
Can the serving vessel actually be filled?
Not in active use. The modern clay vessel has no food-contact approval; an information sheet included with delivery sets this out. For presentation practice that means: the piece stays visibly on the counter, without liquid, and the serving function is communicated verbally or through other, certified replicas.
How do I store the clay vessel between seasons?
Dry, frost-free and shock-protected, ideally wrapped individually in tissue paper inside a flat wooden or cardboard box. Avoid direct contact with metal, since iron residues stain the clay surface unevenly. Anyone leaving the piece in storage for several months checks the base for fine pressure cracks before the next presentation season.
What should I do if the spout shows a fine crack?
With hairline cracks, usually a check is enough to see whether the crack passes through or affects only the surface; holding the piece up to the light shows this quickly. Surface cracks remain cosmetic and do not jeopardise display use. Real through-cracks belong to workshop repair with reversible conservation adhesive, not to camp-side improvising with super-glue.
Which other serving replicas pair well with the rooster askos?
On a Pompeian table it works well alongside a Terra Sigillata jug or a simple olla for wine. A bronze lamp of the Loeschcke type rounds out the lighting when the presentation runs into the evening. Combinations with vessels dated significantly later (late antiquity, medieval) are best avoided, because they visually undo the Pompeian dating of the rooster piece.
External sources and literature on the rooster askos
-
Museo Galileo, Vinum Nostrum, Section VII Grapes and Wine in Pompeii: Rhyton/Askos Inv. 13350 — museological level-A source, photo Pio Foglia, function assigned as pouring and serving vessel
-
Parco Archeologico di Pompei, Asellina exhibition — institutional account of Thermopolium IX.11.2 with four counter dolia and in-situ inventory
-
PompeiiinPictures, IX.11.2 Thermopolium of Asellina — photographic and contextual documentation of architecture, counter, inscriptions and inventory
-
Wikipedia: Thermopolium — overview article with further reading
- Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum, Princeton University Press 1994 — standard work on the social topography of Pompeian taverns and dwellings
- Penelope M. Allison, Pompeian Households: An Analysis of the Material Culture, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology 2004 — systematic evaluation of Pompeian household inventories
- Ancient source: Petronius, Satyricon (Latin full text, The Latin Library), chapter 74,1-3 on the rooster as omen sinistrum
- Ancient source: Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia X (English translation, LacusCurtius), section 21 on rooster symbolism
Forum Traiani ® | Der Römer Shop - Making history tangible!
Updated on: 7 May 2026
