Unique in its shape, this small faience jar, once held scented oil or perfume, is molded in the style of the Greek aryballos, a small cosmetic jar. This hippalektryon possesses the foreparts of a horse and the feathered body, legs, tail, and wings of a rooster. This mixed being appears to be the inverse of the hippogriff, half horse and half eagle while also related to the Chimaera, a mixture of lion, dragon, and goat said to have come from Lycia in Asia Minor. These hybrid creatures all appear to have their origin in the Near East. Whatever its origin, this unusual composite rooster-horse beast appears only on Greek 6th- and 5th-century monuments, and in early Athenian vase painting and the Greek minor arts, often with a rider. It is also mentioned in the works of 5th-century Greek playwrights Aeschylus (tragedy) and Aristophanes (comedy).