Fish Plate, 400-370 BCE, Greek; Athens. Terracotta, red-figure, 5.1 × 34 × 34 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Philip D. Armour and Charles L. Hutchinson, 1889.98.

This footed plate was made to serve succulent morsels of grilled seafood, like the fish, mollusks, and other marine creatures that are painted on its surface. Greece and Italy are peninsulas projecting into seas brimming with marine life. A primary source of protein, seafood was a basic staple of the ancient Mediterranean diet; it remains so today.

Keen observers of their subjects, ancient vase painters so accurately captured the shapes and markings of the fish they depicted that it is possible to identify most of them by species. This example is decorated with two pairs of large fish. A scallop attached to an outer band of a decorative pattern in the center separates a gilt head, on the left, from a fish known as king of the mullets, on the right. Opposite them is a lettered perch confronting a scorpion fish. Details of their anatomy were drawn with dilute glaze. Around them are shells, a small fish, and other creatures. A running wave pattern around the central concavity, with a gently sloped floor for collecting juices or serving sauces, recalls the sea, the source of the bounty.

Fish Plate, 350-330 BCE, Attributed to the Dotted Stripe Painter, Greek; Campania, Italy. Terracotta, red-figure, 4.2 × 19.6 × 19.6 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Cornelius Adrian Comstock Vermeule, 2002.545.

Decorated tableware enlivened festive meals. This red-figured plate was used, as its decoration suggests, for serving seafood, a staple of the Mediterranean diet. Tasty juices pooled in the central concavity, which may also have contained sauces.

Fish Plate, 350-325 BCE, Attributed to the Hippocamp Group, Greek; Canosa, Apulia, Italy. Terracotta, red-figure, 5 × 21.5 × 21.5 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Emily Dickinson Sae Jin Vermeule, 2002.543.

This footed plate was made to serve succulent morsels of grilled seafood, like the fish that are painted on its surface. Greece and Italy are peninsulas projecting into seas brimming with marine life. A primary source of protein, seafood was a basic staple of the ancient Mediterranean diet; it remains so today. Keen observers of their subjects, ancient vase painters so accurately captured the shapes and markings of the fish they depicted that it is possible to identify most of them by species. On this example, three slightly different, pleasingly plump bream with bright white details appear to swim after one another. A running wave pattern around the central concavity, with a gently sloped floor for collecting juices or serving sauces, recalls the sea, the source of the bounty.

Fish Plate, 350-325 BCE, Probably by the Heligoland Painter, Greek; Campania, Italy. Terracotta, red-figure, 4.9 × 24.6 × 24.6 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Yun Soo Lim Vermeule, 2002.546.

Decorated tableware enlivened festive meals. This red-figure plate was used, as its decoration suggests, for serving seafood, a staple of the Mediterranean diet. Tasty juices pooled in the central concavity, which may also have contained sauces.

Fish Plate, 340-320 BCE, Attributed to the Perrone-Phrixos Group, Greek; Tarentum (now Taranto), Apulia, Italy. Terracotta, red-figure, 4.2 × 20.4 × 20.4 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Emily Dickinson Blake Vermeule, 2002.544.

Decorated tableware enlivened festive meals. The red-figure plates were used, as their decoration suggests, for serving seafood, a staple of the Mediterranean diet. Tasty juices pooled in the central concavity, which may also have contained sauces.