“Lion,” a wine vessel

Russians: Cossacks: Don river Cossacks

European Russia, Don Cossack Region, Ust-Medveditsa Okrug, Cossack village Kletskaya

late 19th - early 20th century

Ceramics: ceramics; glaze

length 29.0; width 16.0; height 24.0

РЭМ 1040-65

Kletskaya Stanitsa was famous for its potters all over Ust-Medveditsky District. Pottery was widespread in the Cossack settlements on the banks of the Don due to the availability of raw material, i.e. clay, right at the feet. The land of Kletskaya and the neighbor farmsteads are rich in deposits of high-quality clay of a diversified color gamut, from white and cream to dark grey and brown. Skillful craftsmen made glazed and non-slip earthenware: ewers, makitra pots, makhotkas (small pots), kvass jars, and cups. Wine pitchers were in demand, which were shaped as figures of animals, such as goat, sheep, or lion, and wine jugs – vertically extended barrel-shaped vessels with a blind lid, a throat for filling, a spout, and a twisted handle. For children, they made toy pennywhistles, most often bird-shaped.