Lot 17E
Greece, Magna Graecia, southern Italy, Apulia, ca. 340 to 325 BCE. A charming lekythos (oil pouring vessel), squat and with a long, thin neck ending in a flat, flared rim that juts outward above the narrow spout. A very thin handle rises in a curve from the shoulder up to lower neck. The piece sits on a flat, slightly rolled foot. It is painted overall black, with red-figure motifs around its body and lower neck. These are dominated by stylized floral flourishes and a single large, seated swan or goose seen in profile, with its head tipped back, its eye painted as if closed. Size: 3.25" W x 4" H (8.3 cm x 10.2 cm)
The swan played a complex role in Greek mythology - as the attribute of Aphrodite and Apollo, said to sing a song of unearthly beauty as it dies, and as the form assumed by Zeus to ravish Leda, mother of Helen of Troy. The latter, based on the writings of Ovid and Fulgentius, was well known in the European Middle Ages, and inspired artists, including Michelangelo, during the Italian Renaissance. However, the ancient Greek artisan who made this piece was probably depicting the swan as a general symbol of passion and beauty rather than a direct reference to the Zeus and Leda story - the subject gained its later popularity because in Christian Europe it was more acceptable to depict women in coitus with a swan than a man, while in ancient Greece there were no such restrictions.
Provenance: private Swiss collection
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#124170
- Condition: Repaired at neck, with encrustations on surface. Nice pigment remaining.
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| $2,000 | $4,999 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $9,999 | $500 |
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| $200,000 + | $25,000 |