Details

LOT 0066

Greek Attic Black-Figure Kylix Eye-Cup

CIRCA 520-500 B.C.

10 1/2 in. (381 grams, 26.7 cm wide).

A terracotta black-figure kylix composed of a D-section bowl and stemmed foot, bowl exterior decorated with a winged figure of Eos, goddess of the dawn, running right between two stylised eyes, repeated on both principal faces, two integral handles curving upwards, each embellished with vine motifs; gorgoneion to the interior base.

Provenance

Private collection, New York, USA.
Acquired from Sotheby's, New York, Friday 16 May 1980, lot 175.
Ex New England, USA, collection.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr. Raffaele D'Amato.
Accompanied by copies of the relevant Sotheby's catalogue pages.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate no.11297-189881.

Literature

Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, accession numbers 96.18.65 and 41.162.8, for similar drinking cups; cf. The British Museum, museum number 1864,1007.294, for similar; cf. Bundrick, S.D., ‘Athenian Eye Cups in Context’ in American Journal of Archaeology, vol.119, 2015, 3, pp.295-341, fig.1.

Footnotes

One of the most compelling and mysterious of popular motifs on Greek pottery is the iconographic innovation of a large pair of eyes. Eye motifs first emerged on the exteriors of Athenian black-figure cups circa 540-530 B.C., with the famous Dionysos kylix by Exekias, found at Vulci and acquired for King Ludwig I of Bavaria in 1841, ranking among the earliest surviving examples.

CONDITION