LOT 0046

Fragment of a Greek Red-Figure Cup Depicting a Satyr Copulating with a Maenad, Attributed to Epiktetos

ATTIC, CIRCA 520–490 B.C.

4 5/8 in. (31.2 grams, 11.7 cm).

Dynamic scene featuring a nude, muscular satyr engaged in coitus with a young maenad; the satyr depicted with long curly hair and long dressed beard, a crown of ivy leaves resting on his head, holding the hand of the maenad with his right hand and her waist with the other; the maenad depicted in a half-kneeling position with her right hand grasping the beard of the satyr; partial Greek inscription above 'KTETO' referring to the artist Epiktetos.

Oswald Burchard collection, Zurich, until 1983.
M. Hess collection, Hotel Jura, Basel.
Private collection, Germany.
Private collection, London.
One fragment, Antikenmuseum [ACR] Auctions, 17, 30 June 2015, no.14.
Two fragments, Bertolami Fine Art, Auction 43, 19 April 2018, no.55.
Comprising three fragments, subsequently joined.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13326-258216.

See The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, object no.1978.11.21, for a kylix painted by the same artist; the British Museum, London, museum no.1867,0508.1029, for a kylix painted by Epiktetos and showing a kneeling satyr; and a fragmentary erotic scene on a Kylix attributed to Epiktetos, again in Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 2011.604.1.5930a–c.

Epiktetos is considered a master of the circular image and painted mainly the interiors of cups—specifically "eye-cups," so named because of the two painted eyes on the exterior, which likely served an apotropaic function. His so-called "bilingual" vases feature black-figure painting on the interior, while the exterior of the bowl is decorated in the red-figure style. He painted few mythological scenes: Theseus confronting the Minotaur; a red-figure cup fragment attributed to him depicts Hermes, Apollo, and Artemis or large-scale compositions; instead, he mostly depicted scenes from daily life (an archer, a mounted warrior, figures at a banquet, a sculptor at work), as well as erotic scenes featuring men or satyrs.