this frog has been waiting for a snack for about 2,000 years

this frog vessel at the Met comes from Colima, Mexico, and dates to somewhere between the second century BCE and the third century CE. about two thousand years old, and still making the face you make when someone says they only ordered fries for themselves.

the excellent part is the mouth. a container needs an opening. a frog has a mouth. put those two facts together and suddenly the useful part of the object is also its entire personality.

the little front feet make it better. they are planted firmly. he is prepared to receive whatever this meeting is about.

there is a very satisfying economy here: the frog does not decorate the container. the frog is the container. one large mouth, several small toes, no additional explanation required.

please put something in him. he has been extremely patient.

Featured image: Frog Vessel, Colima, 2nd century BCE–3rd century CE. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.332). Public-domain image and object record.