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LOT 0062
Greek Attic Black-Figure Lekythos with Fighting Hoplites
6TH CENTURY B.C.
9 in. (381 grams, 23 cm high).
The piriform body tapering towards the splayed foot, D-section strap handle and calyx-shaped mouth with flat rim; the body painted with a scene of two duelling hoplites, dressed in full armour comprising shields, greaves and helmets, dressed in short chitons and assisted by their arbiters holding staffs and dressed in long himation; the shoulder with palmette decoration and facing figures of a man and a woman with long garments around the shoulder; restored.
ProvenanceOld Swiss collection.
Acquired in Europe before 2011.
Private collection, Europe.
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.11815-206482.
See Papuci-Władyka, E., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Poland, Fascicule 11, Cracow Fascicule I, Cracow, 2012, pl.43, for similar examples; see also a similar lekythos decorated with warriors in combat at the New Art Gallery Walsall, inventory no.1973.284.GR; for general bibliography on the Attic Greek black-figure lekythoi see Beazley, J. D., Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters, New York, 1978, pp.463-464, 699; Boardman J., Athenian Black Figure Vases, New York, 1993, pp.114-115, fig.237.
FootnotesTo the Greeks, lekythoi were containers for dispensing oil. The characteristics shape of this vessel was that of a long body, narrow neck, one handle and a cup-shaped mouth. The shape was fit for the function of the lekythos: the narrow neck prevented the unnecessary loss of oil by enabling small amounts to be distributed evenly and the mouth to collect the excess. The represented scene is probably taken from the Iliad and could represent the combat between Ajax and Hector, assisted by arbiters.
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LOT 0062
Greek Attic Black-Figure Lekythos with Fighting Hoplites
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
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Greek Bronze Furniture Fitting Group
3rd-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Comprising over 20 hollow-formed bicones. 790 grams total, 21-96 mm
Acquired 1960s-1990s. Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister. -
Etruscan Bronze Statuette of Herakles
4th-3rd century B.C.Estimate: £30,000 - 40,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £11,111
Modelled in the round with a muscular nude body, his club lifted in his right hand behind his head, his hair dressed in rows of tight, close-set curls underneath a Nemean lionskin hood with cloak billowing over his left arm, the paws tied across his chest; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 290 grams total, 14.5 cm high (19.5 cm high including stand)
Fine condition, excellent uniform patina.
with Sotheby's, New York, 21 November 1985, lot 60. Ex private New York collection. 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.11794-206497.
The statuette assumes the position of the 'attacking Hercules', which characterises numerous Etruscan statues of the hero of the classical era, however, with a less aggressive stance. The type was probably an Etruscan creation of the 5th century B.C., based on Greek models, which lasted until the end of the Hellenistic period, when Etruria was by then incorporated into the Roman world. This statuette, despite certain anatomical stylisation and an impersonal characterisation of the face, is the result of a good artistic and technical quality. The comparison of the artwork with the group identified as ‘Trieste’ from Colonna shows that this specimen is more recent and should be dated to the end of the Hellenistic Age. These small statuettes were probably offered ex-voto by the Romano-Etruscan aristocracy of the period. -
Greek Marble Head of a Youth
6th-5th century B.C.Estimate: £4,000 - 6,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £2,000
Carved in the round; semi-naturalistic anatomic and facial detailing, hair gathered loosely at the neck and tied with a taenia knotted at the nape of the neck; mounted on a custom-made display base. 879 grams total, 18 cm high including stand
Ex old European private property, by inheritance to the current owner. Ex Schuler Auktionen, Zürich, 10 December 2020, lot 1211. 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.11817-206512.
The small statuette to which the head belonged was probably that of a naked youth, the so-called kouros, typical of archaic Greek sculpture from the 7th century B.C. onwards.
