LOT 0511

Graeco-Roman Megarian Terracotta Cup with Nymphs

2ND CENTURY B.C.

4 3/4 in. (257 grams, 11.9 cm wide).

Hemispherical in form with decoration in relief featuring fluting alternating with nymphs and symbols beneath an architectural border, cracked and chipped. [No Reserve]

Private Dutch collection, 1970-2010.
Ex private Dutch collection, 2010-2018.

Cf. Baur, P.V.C., ‘Megarian Bowls in the Rebecca Darlington Stoddard Collection of Greek and Italian vases in Yale University’ in American Journal of Archaeology, vol.45, no.2, April-June, 1941, pp.229-248.

The term ‘Megarian’ bowl applied to this type of pottery is a modern convention for academic purposes. The name ‘Megarian’ was first given to this type of mould-made relief bowl in the late 19th century, because some of the first known examples were said to have come from the city of Megara. In reality, such terracotta items originated in Athens in the 3rd quarter of the 3rd century BC, and from that point were made in all major Greek cities for the duration of the Hellenistic period and into the Roman, especially in Alexandria. This relief-decorated pottery became more popular than painted pottery during the Hellenistic period. This class of hemispherical bowl was made in moulds and was characterised by decoration imitating metallic beakers. When the finished bowl was taken from the mould, it was probably dipped in varnish or dull paint and fired. According to Prof. P.V.C. Baur, the stamps used for making moulds were not produced in every manufacturing centre of ‘Megarian’ bowls, but were made only in important centres such as Athens, Pergamon, Antioch and Alexandria, and sold to potters throughout the Hellenistic world. The fact that the edge of the bowl is turned outwards suggests Athenian production, and a comparison with the decorative petals on the Delian Cup (no.1913.199 of the Rebecca Darlington collection) is also plausible.