Loading, please wait...

Greek Red-Figure Squat Lekythos Attributed to the Meidian Painter Greek Red-Figure Squat Lekythos Attributed to the Meidian Painter Greek Red-Figure Squat Lekythos Attributed to the Meidian Painter Greek Red-Figure Squat Lekythos Attributed to the Meidian Painter Greek Red-Figure Squat Lekythos Attributed to the Meidian Painter Greek Red-Figure Squat Lekythos Attributed to the Meidian Painter Greek Red-Figure Squat Lekythos Attributed to the Meidian Painter Greek Red-Figure Squat Lekythos Attributed to the Meidian Painter Greek Red-Figure Squat Lekythos Attributed to the Meidian Painter
Use mousewheel to zoom in and out, click to enlarge
Details

LOT 0116

Greek Red-Figure Squat Lekythos Attributed to the Meidian Painter

ATTIC, CIRCA 420-400 B.C.

4 1/4 in. (95 grams, 10.9 cm).

Comprising a bulbous body with narrow neck and handle to the rear; radiating petals on the neck with a band of volute scrolls below, the body showing a female in a dynamic pose, dressed in an elaborate long dress and holding a plate of fruit with her left hand, a seated female before her; attributed to the Meidian Painter; some restoration. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Ex Prof. Dr Hans (1918-1984) and Dr Ines (1922-2013) Jucker, classical archaeologists, Bern, Switzerland.
with Galerie Rhéa, Zurich, Switzerland.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12645-236462.

Literature

Cf. CVA Geneva, 4.12,2; for a similar lekythos in Bruxelles Museum Nicole, H., Meidias et le style fleuri dans la ceramique attique, Genève, 1908, pl.VII,3.

Footnotes

Dancing women are a characteristic of the Meidian Painter. They are depicted as young women, wearing Doric costumes, earrings, pearls surmounting diadems, and golden bracelets, holding a patera and (probably originally here too) a thimiaterion.

CONDITION
VETTING:

TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process


AUCTIONS:

TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.

LOT 0116

Greek Red-Figure Squat Lekythos Attributed to the Meidian Painter

Sold for (Inc. bp): £715

Print page

RELATED LOTS
  • Lydian Silver Ribbed Jug with Spout and Handle
    Lydian Silver Ribbed Jug with Spout and Handle
    Archaic, 6th century B.C.

    Estimate: £6,000 - 8,000 (+bp*)

    Opening Bid: £3,000

    Comprising a squat body with a median band of vertical ribbing, a short neck with a broad flared rim, and a thickened outer rim, a flared foot; fluted strap handle and a U-section spout flared at the outer end. 211 grams, 14 cm



    UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Private collection, London, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13266-253452.

    This jug can plausibly be placed in the Lydian world of western Anatolia during the Archaic period, when Lydia stood at the crossroads of the Greek and Near Eastern worlds. Far from being culturally isolated, Lydia was deeply involved in the exchange of artistic forms, luxury materials, and metalworking traditions that moved across the eastern Mediterranean in the 7th and 6th centuries B.C. The attribution, therefore, suggests more than geography alone: it points to a wealthy and outward-looking culture in which prestige objects in precious metal carried both social and economic weight. Silver was especially important in this period. Before coinage became widespread, it functioned as a recognised store of value and circulated in weighed forms across the Mediterranean and Near East. In Lydia, its importance is sharpened by the region’s close association with the early history of coinage: ancient sources and modern scholarship alike connect the Lydians with the development of some of the earliest coined money, first in electrum and soon after in distinct gold and silver issues. A vessel such as this would therefore have been more than a practical object. Its material alone marked it as a possession of consequence, while its workmanship placed it firmly within the culture of elite display.

    Lot Details

  • Graeco-Roman Bronze Ring
    Graeco-Roman Bronze Ring
    1st century B.C.-1st century A.D. or later

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £20

    Comprising a slender hoop and a large oval bezel with a piecrust edge. 5.06 grams, 23.24 mm overall, 20.01 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q, USA 8, Europe 17.49, Japan 16)



    Acquired on the UK art market in 2013 Property of a West Northamptonshire, UK, gentleman.

    Lot Details

  • Greek Red-Figure Bell Krater with Warrior Funerary Offering Scene, Attributed to CA Painter
    Greek Red-Figure Bell Krater with Warrior Funerary Offering Scene, Attributed to CA Painter
    Campanian, 350-300 B.C.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,980

    Comprising a bell-shaped body with narrow stem and stepped pedestal foot, broad rim with square loop handles and palmettes beneath, frieze to sidewall: Side A: Oscan warrior with cuirass, helmet, shield and spear standing beside an altar with a female holding a patera in her extended hand, diadem in the other at her side; Side B: seated female with a patera and wreath facing a standing cloaked figure with thyrsus. 2.38 kg, 29.5 cm high



    Private collection, Geneva, acquired in the late 1960s. Private collection, acquired in Geneva in 2000. Accompanied by collector's notes and old images. Accompanied by an original copy thermoluminescence analysis report no.QED1412/.SG-0602 from QED Laboratoire. 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.13219-249314.

    The krater offers an interesting glimpse into the local life of Campania in the 4th century B.C. Particularly noteworthy is the depiction of the Oscan Samnite warrior, fully armed in the style of Campanian, Samnite, or Lucanian mercenaries, performing a funerary sacrifice. The depiction of the Chalcidian helmet, with its central crest and twin lateral plumes (geminae pinnae), dedicated to Mars, is extremely detailed. The style and the way in which the figures are realised, the conformation of the women, the details of the warrior, seem to point to the workshop of the CA Painter, a Campanian red-figure vase-painter whose name is unknown. Nevertheless, consistent individual characteristics of style suggest the existence of a unique artistic personality. Trendall called him the CA Painter because he was the chief painter in the first stage of Cumaean red-figure vase-painting, the initials standing for Cumaean (C), first stage (A).

    Lot Details

Stay up-to-date with the latest from TimeLine Auctions by joining our mailing list