Lot 32
Magna Graecia, Apulia, ca. 370 BCE. An elegant pottery pelike with a graceful silhouette and hand-painted red figure imagery of 2 maenads and an ephebe. The first side features a maenad draped in a peplos as she strides right and looks left, carrying a phiale in one hand and a wreath in the other. A rosette and target motif adorn the left field, while a band of egg-and-dart pattern embellishes the area above. Alternatively, the other side features a standing maenad also dressed in a peplos as she faces a semi-nude ephebe who props one foot up on a rock as swirling drapery flows from his shoulders. The maenad holds a xylophone in one hand and a phiale in the other, and the ephebe grasps a ribbon in one hand. A row of rosettes is shown above them. A band of crested wave designs encircles the bottom of the vessel, while a palmette motif decorates the area beneath each handle. Size: 7.3" Diameter x 11.7" H (18.5 cm x 29.7 cm)
Perhaps the most exciting innovation in Greek vase painting was the red-figure technique, invented in Athens around 525 BCE and beloved by other artists of Magna Graecia. The red-figure technique allowed for much greater flexibility as opposed to the black-figure technique, for now the artist could use a soft, pliable brush rather than a rigid metal graver to delineate interior details, play with the thickness of the lines, as well as build up or dilute glazes to create chromatic effects. The painter would create figures by outlining them in the natural red of the vase, and then enrich these figural forms with black lines to suggest volume, at times perspectival depth, and movement, bringing those silhouettes and their environs to life.
This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A full printed and bound report will accompany the item upon purchase.
Provenance: private Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA collection; ex-Pook & Pook, Downington, Pennsylvania, USA, Wine, Ancient Art, and Antiquities, October 3, 2019, lot 89
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#183981
- Condition: Professionally repaired and restored with areas of repainting and retouching. Some small chips to rim and handles as well as light surface wear in areas. Otherwise, very nice presentation with nice detail. Pretty luminescence in areas. TL holes to underside of base and beneath rim.
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