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LOT 0095
Greek Campanian Black-Glazed Kernos
LATE 4TH CENTURY B.C.
6 1/4 in. (623 grams, 16 cm high).
Comprising a round pedestal supporting four small offering pots, interspersed with four female face protomes; looped handle to the centre with parallel strokes in low-relief.
ProvenanceFrom the West German collection of H.W.
Acquired from the De Mynter, Belgium, in 2011.
with Gorny and Mosch, Munich, 3 June 2017, no.52.
Private Portuguese R.M. collection.
Accompanied by a previous catalogue information slip.
Cf. Miše, M., Gnathia and related Hellenistic Ware on the East Adriatic Coast, Oxford, 2015, fig.5, p.45, for similar.
FootnotesThe kernos can be recognised by a series of small cups on the lip, with examples dating back to the Bronze Age. It was used to store offerings made to the gods, specifically in cults pertaining to Demeter and Persephone. The receptacles probably contained foodstuffs, or perhaps flowers, and a lamp was sometimes placed in the centre. Kernoses, such as this, were often carried in processions at the Eleusinian Mysteries (secret initiation rites celebrating the goddesses Demeter and Persephone) and were an important object for Greek religious life. Kernoses are thus closely related to the agrarian cult and to the myth of Persephone and Demeter, the goddess of fertility and agriculture. The myth is recounted in an Homeric Hymn (c. 650 B.C.) according to which Persephone, Demeter’s daughter, was seized by Hades, the king of the underworld, who brought her to his kingdom to make her his wife. Distraught, Demeter caused a terrible drought, which continued until Persephone returned to her mother from the underworld. Having consumed pomegranate seeds whilst she was in the Underworld, she was only able to be with her for a few months of the year.
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Cypriot Bichrome Ware Amphora
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With trumpet-shaped foot, piriform body, rounded shoulder, broad neck and flared rim, two lateral strap handles, circumferential painted bands. 374 grams, 14.5 cm high
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. -
Hellenistic Gold Mount Pair
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Villanovan Impasto Oinochoe with Graffiti
Circa 8th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £624
Three-lobed mouth with elongated beak, truncated-conical neck, shoulder with a convex profile, biconical body, low and flat foot, double rod handle set on the mouth and shoulder; small hole below equator. 592 grams, 21 cm high
Showplace Auction Centre, auction 308, lot 174. Property of a South Australian private collector, with collection reference 23.09. Accompanied by detailed collector's catalogue pages including description and photograph.
There is a similar vessel in Collection CA p18 n17 without decoration. The form is the same (height 25cm). Different varieties of it are known depending on the high or short neck, the flattened or globular or ovoid body, the flat or ring-shaped or splayed foot, the ribbon-like handle or the single or multiple rod. The known specimens come from different localities: Narce, Faleri, Bisenzio, Vetulonia, Tarquinia, Volsiniese countryside, upper Fiora valley. For parallel with ribs, see Antikenmuseum Basel + Sammlung Ludwig, p. 19, E 9, Schnabelkanne aus Impasto, first half seventh century, height 22.6cm. The shape of this handmade pot is particularly bold and simple. The few attached ribs, the bar handles brought together at the top, the high neck and the steep, cloverleaf-shaped mouth form ascending lines, but at the same time contribute to the balance of the shape due to their curve. These pots have primarily been found in Bisenzio, where they were probably made.
