LOT 0093

Greek Black-Figure Miniature Amphora with Swan

ATTIC, 6TH-5TH CENTURY B.C.

3 in. (57.1 grams, 76 mm).

With two handles and an everted rim; parallel, vertical strokes on the neck and below a swan with its wings open and neck elegantly curved, a staff on the background.

Swiss private collection, assembled in the 1960s and 1970s.
Acquired by the present owner in 2004.

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 a search certificate number no.13019-246754.

Cf. Barfoed, S., Cult in Context, The Ritual Significance of miniature pottery in ancient Greek Sanctuaries from the Archaic to the Hellenistic Period, II Volumes, Department of Classical and Archaeological Studies, Kent University, 2015, fig.39, for a votive black-figured miniature red vessel.

The swan was a favoured motif in Greek art, admired for its elegance and associations with divinity and beauty. In mythology, the bird was sacred to Apollo, god of music and light, whose chariot was said to be drawn by swans on his annual journey to the land of the Hyperboreans. It was likewise linked to Aphrodite, symbolising love and sensuality, and appears in scenes celebrating harmony and the ideal of beauty. The swan also featured prominently in the myth of Leda and the Swan, in which Zeus, transformed into the bird, inspired numerous representations across Greek art.