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LOT 0080
Greek Red-Figure Hydria with Combat Scene Between Amazons and Greek or Trojan Heroes
4TH CENTURY B.C.
18 1/8 in. (3 kg, 46 cm high).
The vessel with integral round-section upward-facing handles, a third, round-section handle placed vertically between shoulder and upper neck to rear; laurel sprigs to the neck with traces of gilding; combat scene with Amazons (and Trojans?) below, armed with short swords and crescent shields, most wearing an exomis leaving the shoulder and one breast uncovered; volute palmettes below both side-handles, a panel of tiered and swirling volutes to the rear, all on a band of egg-moulding, repeated around the rim; possibly Apulian or Campanian; restored.
ProvenanceEx collection Woodyat, Rome, Italy, 1912.
with Vente Genève, 24 & 25 June 1960.
Private European collection.
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 search certificate number no.11581-199028.
Cf. The British Museum, museum number 1867,0508.1339 'Pottery: red-figured hydria (water jar)', for a similar type of vessel with a comparable volute panel to the rear, in Smith, A.N., Pryce, F.N., CVA British Museum 2 / Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum: Great Britain 2, British Museum 2, London, 1926, pl.8, 15; cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession number 07.128.1, for a similar vessel type, in Von Bothmer, D., Guide to the Collections: Greek and Roman Art, New York, 1964, p.24, fig.32; Trendall, A.D. & Cambitoglou, A., The Red-Figured Vases of Apulia, vol.1, Oxford, 1978, pl.XXX; Robinson, E.G.D., Carpenter, T., Lynch K.M., The Italic People of Ancient Apulia: New Evidence from Pottery for Workshops, Markets, and Customs, Cambridge, 2014, figs.4.5; for the represented topic see Patten, A.E., Addressing the Other: The Amazon in Greek Art, University Honors Theses, Portland, Paper 24, 2013, fig.2, folio VIII.
FootnotesThe mythological topic of this hydria is fascinating, representing a fight between Amazons and Greek or Trojan heroes (suggested by the central cavalryman wearing a Phrygian cap). During this period, Amazons were no longer represented as Persian or Scythian warriors, as in Attic red-figure ceramics, but depicted as athletic parthenoi and wearing chitons. Rather than oriental costume and armour, the Amazons wear a short exomis with a bare shoulder and breast (Patten, 2013, PI.VI, I, VI,2, 2 and 3).
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0080
Greek Red-Figure Hydria with Combat Scene Between Amazons and Greek or Trojan Heroes
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,800
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Greek Terracotta Protome Mask
Late 6th-early 5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Modelled as a female head with rounded oval face, slightly bulging eyes and pronounced chin, indistinct smiling mouth with thin lips, outline of ears; low straight polos with fastening hole. 130 grams, 12 cm
Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.
The figure belongs to a common type known from mainland Greece and the islands. The head clearly shows the so-called 'Archaic smile' visible on the dedicatory protomes of the same typology. They were terracotta votive offerings attached with a nail to the shrine of a goddess for ex-voto or to receive the grace of the represented goddess (Demeter?). -
Greek Silver Wine Strainer
4th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £16,900
Composed of a shallow bowl and broad flange rim, two integral scalloped handles with scrolled flourishes, tapering to a loop handle with swan head terminals each with incised eye and beak detailing; perforated whirl within roundel to interior base; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 160 grams, 22.2 cm wide (526 grams total including stand)
Ex private South German collection, 1980s. with Christie's, New York, 8 June 2012, lot 86. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Christie's pages. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11578-198980.
Elaborate silver strainers, such as this present example, were used at symposia and festive occasions for the purpose of preventing the dregs of wine from entering the wine cup. This and other related silver utensils became popular in the later 4th and 3rd century B.C. These highly decorated wine strainers were fitted with dual handles forming loops in the shape of twisting animals, here a swan. Usually they took the form of a shallow dish complete with four rings of perforations in the centre in order to drain the wine. Strainers of this type were used to separate out sediments which could be found in the thick Greek wine. Examples similar to this one have been found in royal tombs in northern Greece, as well as the tomb of a monarch in Sudan. -
Minoan Bronze Votary Statue
Circa 3000–1100 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,820
The figure standing on a small discoid base, wearing a short kilt, with broad chest and slender waist; the left arm bent across the chest and the right arm raised to the forehead in an act of worship; mounted on a custom-made stand. 447 grams total, 22.4 cm high including stand
British private collection, acquired by 2000. Accompanied by a copy of an old photograph showing this item on display in a display cabinet within the previous collectors home. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11950-210856.