Description:

Magna Graecia, Apulia, ca. 370 BCE. An elegant pottery pelike with a graceful silhouette and hand-painted red figure imagery of 2 draped ephebes on one side and a nude male with a female in a peplos on the other. Both pairs of figures confront one another; the youths in himations each hold a staff and appear to partake in discussion, while the nude figure grasps a strigil, and the woman extends one arm above a ball, a box, and a roll of drapery - perhaps the clothes of the male. Above the figures is a band of laurel wreath design, and a row of stopped meander motif is shown below. Size: 7.5" Diameter x 10.7" H (19 cm x 27.2 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 Rancho Mirage, California, USA collection, by inheritance in 2020; ex-Dr. TDR Berreth, California, USA, acquired before 1982

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#179102

  • Condition: Professionally repaired with break lines visible in some areas and overpainting is others. Minor nicks and abrasions as shown, but otherwise, excellent presentation with nicely preserved imagery. Light earthen deposits in areas.

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July 21, 2023 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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