Details

LOT 0591

Greek Fragmentary Terracotta Red-Figure Hydria

PAESTAN OR APULIAN, 4TH CENTURY B.C.

12 1/4 in. (18 3/4 in.) (1.95 kg, 31 cm (2.6 kg total, 47.5 cm high including stand)).

Comprising the upper two thirds of the vessel; on the shoulder a facing woman's head with diadem and half-veiled face; rosettes to left and right, with suspended ribbons and dots; vine motif around the body with floral ornaments; to the reverse, palmettes and vines; band of laurel with rosettes around the neck and wavy band at the mouth; reassembled from various fragments with three large areas of restoration, only the beginnings of the handles preserved; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Provenance

Ex Herbert A. Cahn, Basel, 1990s.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12475-228738.

Literature

For veiled figures see Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, item MH 1913.1.B.SII; The Pushkin Museum, item number II.1.б 510.

Footnotes

The face-veiling gesture is a known marriage rite; the diadem may suggest that she is intended to represent Persephone. Alternatively, the veiled woman might be a dancer as many terracotta figurines of dancing women are shown with face-coverings. However, the floral ornaments could indicate a funeral or sepulchral context.