LOT 0065

Greek Red-Figure Hydria with Fighting Between Amazons and Greek or Trojan Heroes

4TH CENTURY B.C.

18 1/8 in. (3 kg, 46 cm high).

A red-figure terracotta hydria with mythological scene, 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.

Ex 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.

The mythological topic of this hydria is fascinating, representing the 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 the 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).