Tondo Hound
About 2,500 years ago an Athenian painter put a dog in the middle of a wine cup, scratching its head with a hind leg. It came into view only as the wine was drunk.
Our T-shirt design is drawn after this scene.
Tondo of a red-figure cup by the Euergides Painter, c. 510–500 BC · Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Photo: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and colour adjusted)
from $26.99 · Black · S–3XL
Owl of Athena
Athens struck its silver coins with Athena on one side and her owl on the other, beside an olive sprig and the letters ΑΘΕ, for Athens. They were among the most widely traded coins of antiquity, and people simply called them owls.
Our T-shirt design is drawn after coins like this one.
Silver tetradrachm of Athens, 449–440 BC · The Cleveland Museum of Art
from $26.99 · 11 colours · S–3XL
Be cheerful, enjoy your life
On the dining-room floor of a Roman house in Antioch, a skeleton reclines with a cup in his hand, beside a wine jug and bread. The word around his head, ΕΥΦΡΟΣΥΝΟΣ, tells the diners to be cheerful.
Our T-shirt design is drawn after this mosaic.
Floor mosaic from a dining room in Antioch, 3rd century AD · Hatay Archaeology Museum, Antakya
Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and straightened)
from $26.99 · 3 colours · S–3XL
Little Owl as a Hoplite Warrior
In the 5th century BC an Athenian painter turned Athena's owl into a hoplite, with a crested helmet, a shield and a spear. The owl was the goddess's bird, and Athena herself was usually shown armed.
Our T-shirt design is drawn after this owl.
Red-figure mug, Athens, c. 475–425 BC · Musée du Louvre, Paris
Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5 (cut out)
from $26.99 · Black · S–3XL
Minoan Octopus
About 3,500 years ago a Minoan painter on Crete let an octopus spread its arms over this flask. It was found at Palaikastro, on the island's eastern coast.
Our T-shirt design is drawn after this octopus.
Marine Style flask from Palaikastro, c. 1500–1450 BC · Heraklion Archaeological Museum
from $26.99 · 6 colours · S–3XL
Tondo of a red-figure cup by the Euergides Painter, c. 510–500 BC · Ashmolean Museum, OxfordPhoto: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and colour adjusted)
T-Shirts
Inspired by Antiquity
Vase heroes, owls and labyrinths on soft cotton T-shirts, arranged by the cultures that made them. Where archaeologyart began.
Prehistoric
c. 15,000 – 500 BCCave walls, rock art and Çatalhöyük
Ancient Near East
c. 2600 – 700 BCUr, Assyria and Bronze Age Anatolia
Egypt
c. 1330 – 650 BCGods, pharaohs and the night sky of Nut
Ancient Greece
c. 1500 – 100 BCMinoan seas, vase painters and the owl of Athena
Rome & the Etruscans
c. 400 BC – AD 300Etruscan cups, Pompeian walls and Roman mosaics
Byzantium
c. AD 500 – 1450Ravenna mosaics, empresses and the double-headed eagle
Medieval & Renaissance
c. AD 800 – 1650Margins, heraldry, Viking ravens and Latin mottoes
Ancient Americas
c. AD 1000 – 1521Mimbres bowls, Aztec stone and a cat from Peru
Art & Wit
18th century – todayVan Gogh, pirate flags and a few art-history jokes
