LOT 0118

Greek Terracotta Black-Figure Oinochoe with Fighting Warriors

ATTIC, LATE 6TH CENTURY B.C.

9 1/8 in. (487 grams, 23.2 cm).

With flared foot, ovoid body, tapering neck and scooped trefoil mouth; tall gusseted strap handle to the rear; painted frieze of a phalanx of hoplites wearing crested helmets and bell-shaped armour with round aspis and eight-shaped (Boeotian) shields, knemidai greaves, long spears and scabbarded swords.

Private Swiss collection, 1980s.
Acquired on the European art market, 1992; thence by descent.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Jacques Chamay.
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 no.13220-249241.

Cf. archaic black figure oinochoe with battle scene in Gerhard, E., Auserlesene Griechische Vasenbilder, Hauptsächlich Etruskischen Fundorts, Zeiter Theil, Heroenbilder, Berlin, 1843, pls.CXXII,CXXIII; archaic black-figure vase with Homeric warriors carrying a companion (Ajax carrying Achilles) in Gerhard, E., Auserlesene Griechische Vasenbilder, Hauptsächlich Etruskischen Fundorts, Zeiter Theil, Heroenbilder, meistens Homerisch, Berlin, 1847, pls.CCXII,CCXIII; an archaic black-figure oinochoe with marching hoplites, in Gerhard, E., Auserlesene Griechische Vasenbilder, Hauptsächlich Etruskischen Fundorts, Viertel Theil, Griechisches Alltagsleben, Berlin, 1858, pl.CCLVIII; for the Greek military equipment and episemata of the period see D’Amato, R., La Battaglia delle Termopili (the battle of the Termopili), Roma, 2013, pp.225ff.

The scene depicts a succession of warriors, marching to the left at a rapid pace. Closely packed, one behind the other, they are confined within the figurative field and extend well beyond the upper and lower edges. It is a scene taken from the Homeric poems. The style of the oinochoe is characterised by the abundant use of thick white and burgundy highlights, resulting in a striking polychrome effect. There is a tendency to extend the figures beyond the frame, due to the subject being too ambitious for the available surface. The chequerboard motif on the neck is a very rare decorative motif. The vase's importance is reinforced by its exceptional state of preservation.