Lot 8
**First Time At Auction**
Ancient Greece, Athens (Attic), ca. 5th century CE; Western Europe, probably Italy, Classical Revival period, ca. 20th century CE. A beautiful pottery kantharos featuring the red figure painting of 2 striding epheboi from 5th-century Athens on the upper half and the janiform head of a woman and a satyr from the 20th-century Classical Revival period on the lower. On top, the mostly nude youths are shown in stride, casting forth their left arms whilst himations drape their right shoulders. Palmette motifs separate the 2 boys, flanking the sweeping handles. Below, the beautiful head of a woman, perhaps a maenad, is juxtaposed against the aged visage of a bearded satyr with pointed goat ears projecting forward. The kantharos was a favored cup by Dionysus, the god of wine, whose retinue comprised of satyrs and maenads, rendering the pair an appropriate coupling for this vessel. Size: 5.4" W x 7.3" H (13.7 cm x 18.5 cm)
Though the original base of this vessel has been lost to the sands of time, 20th-century Classical Revivalists have been able to reconstruct how it likely appeared in antiquity - with the lascivious face of a satyr and sweet visage of a maenad - rendering quite an impressive presentation that resurrects its ancient form!
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 of the period stated - the top half is ancient and the bottom half is from the 20th century. A full printed and bound report is available to the buyer upon request.
Provenance: private Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA collection, acquired from Goldberg Auctions, Los Angeles, California, USA in 1968
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#142637
- Condition: Professionally repaired and restored with bottom half restored in the 20th century in the Greek Classical tradition. Areas of repainting. Chips, nicks, and abrasions, commensurate with age. TL holes to base, chin, and area under handle.
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