When Byzantium was in early flower, this unusual vessel may have contained fine wine or precious oil. It was perhaps used in Christian Church ritual. A strigil has been run across the surface of the clay, creating a bold, lively pattern. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its simple beauty, we are aware of the touch of other hands long ago. Who might have held it when it was new? Were the dreams and emotions that guided their lives so very different from our own? The vessel's elegant shape and vivid decoration appeal as much to the contemporary eye as it did to the culture that created it. Such artifacts, ordinary enough in their own age, connect us in an intimate way with the world of the past. In its presence, we cross the bridge of time and set the imagination on a wondrous journey of discovery.