Cypriot Painted Terracotta Storage Vessel

Three-lobed mouth with elongated beak, truncated-conical neck, shoulder with a convex profile, biconical body, low and flat foot, double rod handle set on the mouth and shoulder; small hole below equator. 592 grams, 21 cm high



Showplace Auction Centre, auction 308, lot 174. Property of a South Australian private collector, with collection reference 23.09. Accompanied by detailed collector's catalogue pages including description and photograph.

There is a similar vessel in Collection CA p18 n17 without decoration. The form is the same (height 25cm). Different varieties of it are known depending on the high or short neck, the flattened or globular or ovoid body, the flat or ring-shaped or splayed foot, the ribbon-like handle or the single or multiple rod. The known specimens come from different localities: Narce, Faleri, Bisenzio, Vetulonia, Tarquinia, Volsiniese countryside, upper Fiora valley. For parallel with ribs, see Antikenmuseum Basel + Sammlung Ludwig, p. 19, E 9, Schnabelkanne aus Impasto, first half seventh century, height 22.6cm. The shape of this handmade pot is particularly bold and simple. The few attached ribs, the bar handles brought together at the top, the high neck and the steep, cloverleaf-shaped mouth form ascending lines, but at the same time contribute to the balance of the shape due to their curve. These pots have primarily been found in Bisenzio, where they were probably made.

D-shaped and plano-convex in section with raised hair, lentoid eyes, large cup-shaped mouth. 31.1 grams, 26 mm



From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Standing erect on a square base wearing an ankle-length robe with mantle with segmented edge draped from the left shoulder, left arm straight at his side right arm bent and fist clenched at the breast; hair cut in a bobbed style with frontal band, collected in a Near-Eastern head-cloth falling down his back; bare feet with toes emphasised; mounted on a custom-made stand. 7.3 kg, 55.5 cm including stand



From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12046-217199.

The sculpture is a good example of the mixed Near Eastern and Attic Ionian styles reflected in Cypriot sculpture. Cypriot art was often influenced by both Greek and Near Eastern styles, although in phase H of the archaic period (680-400 B.C.) the Greek influence became stronger, perhaps as a result of intensified trade and political contacts between the continent, Ionia and the Aegean islands.