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LOT 0086
Greek Chalcidian Black-Figure Amphora with Heracles and Nemean Lion
CIRCA 650-575 B.C.
17 1/8 in. (3.1 kg, 43.5 cm).
With two figural scenes: Side A: the first of the canonical labours of Heracles, the fight against the Nemean lion - in the centre the hero standing over the lion, strangling it with his left arm while thrusting his sword into its neck; two other standing figures witness the fight - on the right Athena, fully armed and ready to defend Heracles with her lance, and to the left Hermes, recognisable by his hat (petasos), winged boots and the caduceus; Side B: a nude horseman, holding his lance and accompanied by his dog, walking towards a king seated on his throne, holding a sceptre in his left hand; on the far right, a standing woman, probably the king's wife; a sphinx under the throne and two flying birds; some restoration.
ProvenanceEx German private collection.
with Hampel Kunst Auction, Munich, 2012, no.867.
Private European collection, thence by family descent.
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.12069-218134.
Cf. Boardman, J., Early Greek Vase Painting, London, 1998, p.219ff., ill.483-484, p.245 for a comparison; see neck amphora with Heracles killing the Nemean Lion, in the Harvard University, inventory no.1960.312, in Robinson, D. M., ‘Unpublished Greek Vases in the Robinson Collection,’ in American Journal of Archaeology (1956), 60.1, 1-25, p.7-9, no. 8, pl.5; cf. a similar terracotta neck-amphora (jar) attributed to the Polyphemos Group in the Metropolitan Museum, accession no.46.11.5.
FootnotesThe shape is typical of the period, and is decorated with black-figured technique, in which the figures were silhouetted in black slip on a reddish clay ground, and linear elements were incised with a needle, with additional details painted with white and cherry red-slip. The amphora seems to belong to one of the sub-types of the ‘Pseudo-Chalcidian’ group (the Poliphemus group), derived from the main Chalcidian series
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LOT 0086
Greek Chalcidian Black-Figure Amphora with Heracles and Nemean Lion
Sold for (Inc. bp): £45,500
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Greek and Other Pottery Fragment Group
Circa 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Including amphora, bowl, cup and other fragments. 5.6 kg total, 5.5-33 cm
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. -
Cypriot Red Burnished Ware Round-Bottomed Flask Group
Bronze Age, 2300-1650 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £364
Each with an unglazed spherical body and tall tubular neck, one with pouring lip and strap handle, one with D-shaped loop handle, one with rosettes to the shoulder, two loop handles and scooped spout. 1 kg total, 14.8-17 cm
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. -
Etruscan Globular Pendant with Birds' Heads
Circa 8th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Comprising a spherical body with biconvex collar, lateral arms ending in stylised bird-heads, pierced lobe above; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 113 grams total, 69 mm including stand
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.
These globular pendants surmounted by two opposed birds heads belong to the early Iron Age phase of the Etruscan-Villanovan culture. The heads are those of aquatic birds, whose motif is often repeated on the embossed belt-cuirasses decorating the waists of high-status men and women.
