Lot 19
Magna Graecia, South Italic Colonies, Apulia, ca. 530 BCE. A graceful pottery oinochoe featuring an intriguing combination of Dionysian and athletic motifs: a dynamic scene of 2 nude ephebes and a draped female all striding left, delineated in red figure technique with applied white fugitive pigments. The central ephebe carries a situla in one hand and proffers an oinochoe in the other seemingly trying to hand it off to the figure before him, while 2 bands of tongue motif sit above and below the scene. The female wears a leopard hide - a symbol of the wine god Dionysus - over her robe, indicating she may be a maenad. In ancient Greece, athletics were considered a way of communicating that brings a great sense of connection between people and allowed individuals to elevate their position in society, train for combat, represent their city-state, and earn respect among their peers. The most important competitions were said to have been inaugurated in 776 BCE at Olympia in the Peloponnesus. Size: 6.5" Diameter x 8" H (16.5 cm x 20.3 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.
Provenance: ex-Royal Athena Galleries, New York City, New York, USA, acquired in 2012; ex-Dr. G.H. collection, El Cajon, California, USA, acquired in August 1984; ex-Royal Athena, New York, USA
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#175448
- Condition: Minor chip to rim, and expected nicks and surface wear throughout, as shown. Otherwise, intact and excellent with impressively preserved detail and great pigments. Nice root marks to interior.
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