Cypriot Red Polished Ware Bowl with Spout

The body formed as a female bust with elaborately styled hair; discoid foot, tall stem with pinched rim giving a broad pouring lip, strap handle to the rear; some pigment remaining. 446 grams, 22.2 cm high



Old French private collection. Swiss private collection, Basel-Landschaft. Private collection of M. Tritten, Binningen, Switzerland. Property of an East Sussex, UK, gentleman.

The Canosan ceramic workshops produced several series of head vases, starting with a red-figure imitation of the Attic plastic oenochoe attributed by Beazley to Group N.21. The next product combined two ceramic techniques: a) the neck, mouth, and handle were executed in red-figure technique with superimposed white rays on the neck; b) the head was drawn from two moulds, mounted on a base rim, and decorated with white slip and polychrome after firing. It belongs to the initial phase of the polychrome ceramic production of Canosa, for which only this type of mould is known. It also illustrates the close collaboration which existed between potters and coroplasts. The same archetype was used in the next phase, producing entirely polychrome head vases, like this one, in which traces of polychrome are still visible on the mouth and near the left ear.

Representing a warrior with conical helmet riding his mount, horse with long neck, short legs and traces of polychromy all along body, neck and ears. 251 grams, 17 cm high



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.

The most popular animals in Cypriot coroplasts of the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. were horses, with or without riders, with long necks and decorated along the whole body like contemporary ceramics. It is worth remembering that the horse in this period represented a status symbol for the military aristocracy and that bodies of sacrificed horses have been found in royal tombs.

Modelled in the round with soft youthful features, short beard, small mouth and large lentoid eyes, tousled hair with a diadem above the brow; socket to the top of the head and remains of a spur to the reverse; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 3.86 kg total, 26.5 cm high including stand



Joseph Klein collection, formed in New York 1941-1980, thence by descent. Acquired from Bonhams, London, 24 October 2012, no.2. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages. 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 search certificate number no.12002-212101.

Votive sculptures were the commonest form of Cypriot sculptures of the period. They were erected within the precincts of temples or covered sanctuaries, around the altar at which the god was worshipped. Thus, on Cyprus, the statuary was conceived as an ex-voto, an image expressing the desire of the believer to enter into intimate communion with and reside under the eternal protection of the gods.