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LOT 0032
Greek Black-Figure Lekythos with Horses and Fighting Warriors
ATHENS, 550-500 B.C.
9 1/4 in. (472 grams, 23.5 cm).
Cylindrical with echinus mouth and stepped torus foot, on the body a dynamic scene consisting of four rearing horses, side-by-side and wearing harnesses, nestled between the horses a standing warrior wearing a crested helmet, behind the horses an advancing warrior wearing a plumed helmet, holding a long spear in his raised hand a round shield in the other; before the horses a fleeing opponent in a running pose, facing back and holding a spear in one hand while protecting himself with a shield held in the other; long tongue motifs on the shoulder; restored.
ProvenanceEx Bonhams, Knightsbridge, London, 1990s.
Private collection, Suffolk.
Cf. for similar lekhitoi Madigan, B., Corinthian and Attic Vases in the Detroit Institute of Art, Geometric, Black-Figure, and red-figure, Leiden-Boston, 2008, figs.58-77 for the type, especially 61-62.
FootnotesThe scene depicts a battle between hoplites, possibly an episode from the Iliad. Originally, one or two of the combatants were positioned on a chariot; four horses from it remain visible. The scene may represent the wounding of Ares, the god of war, as he is pursued by Diomedes and accompanied by the goddess Pallas, whose helmet is emerging from behind the horses.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0032
Greek Black-Figure Lekythos with Horses and Fighting Warriors
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,900
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Greek Bronze Horse Head Mount
Circa 4th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Modelled in the round with large almond-shaped eyes and pricked ears. 34.8 grams, 38 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Greek Silver Belt Hanger with Decorated Terminals
5th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
U-shaped body with hooked terminals with filigree decoration. 17 grams, 50 mm
Acquired on UK art market. Property of a Middlesex gentleman. -
Greek Bronze Hercules and Antaeus Statue Group
Hellenistic, 3rd-1st century B.C.Estimate: £10,000 - 14,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £4,900
Dynamic scene of two nude wrestlers, the giant Antaeus and Hercules, Hercules lifting Antaeus off the ground with his arms, while Antaeus is trying to pry his arms open to regain contact with Mother Earth, which would restore his strength; set on a custom-made display stand. 1.01 kg total, 20.3 cm high including stand
Mallams Oxford. From a UK private collection since the 1970s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13333-258242.
Here, the giant Antaeus is depicted with the more common dimensions of the hero, Hercules. Antaeus was a giant, the son of Neptune and Gaia. Antaeus would challenge all passers-by to wrestling matches and remained invincible as long as he remained in contact with his mother, the Earth. As in Greek wrestling, like its modern equivalent, he typically attempted to force opponents to the ground, and he always won, killing them. He built a temple to his father using the skulls of his defeated opponents. Antaeus fought Hercules as he was on his way to the Garden of Hesperides as his Eleventh Labour. Hercules realised that he could not beat Antaeus by throwing or pinning him. Instead, he held him aloft and then crushed him to death in a bear hug. The scene is famously depicted on a Greek krater dating to the sixth century BC and now in the Louvre, and was a popular subject for Renaissance artists. The episode in which Hercules defeats Antaeus is mentioned in Ovid's Metamorphoses.
