Loading, please wait...
LOT 0057
Large Greek Red-Figure Amphora with Dionysian Scenery
APULIAN, 3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C.
17 in. (1.88 kg, 43 cm).
The piriform body with broad, stepped rim and two lentoid-section handles; painted palemete beneath each handle and on the neck below the mouth; Side A: red-figure frieze depicting a standing woman wearing a himation and stephane, her hands raised supporting objects, a laurel frond before her and a seated nude male with thyrsus and other items; Side B: two opposed figures standing supported by staves, each wearing a loosely draped floor-length garment; objects in the field.
ProvenanceAcquired on the art market between the late 1990s and mid-2000s.
Estate of the late Barry Paul Buxton (1944-2024), Oakham, Rutland.
Acquired on the UK art market, 2025.
Accompanied by a thermoluminescence analysis report no.N126a18 from Oxford Authentication.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13075-248951.
See Trendall, A.D., The red-figured vases of Lucania, Campania and Sicily, second supplement, University of London, Institute of Classical Studies Bulletin no.31, 1973.
FootnotesThe subject is standard, often representing the draped youths completely enveloped in their himatia.
CONDITIONTimeLine 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 0057
Large Greek Red-Figure Amphora with Dionysian Scenery
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
-
Greek Bronze Duck's Head
3rd-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,690
Modelled in the round with realistic features, textured plumage, rounded beak. 236 grams, 10.1 cm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12378-226677. -
.jpg)
Greek Terracotta Standing Figure
Archaic, 7th-5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
Modelled in the round figure standing with arms raised, head tilted upward with shoulder-length hair and horned cap, collar to the throat with large disc closure, pectoral pendant on a stylised braided thong; mounted on a custom-made stand; possibly Cypriot workmanship. 277 grams total, 17 cm high including stand
Ex Ernest Ohly collection. Acquired from Woolley & Wallis, Wiltshire, UK, 20 May 2010, no.1010 (part). From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. From the private collection of John Meredith, acquired since the 1990s; thence by descent. -
.jpg)
Bronze Batillum Depicting a Reclining Banqueteer with Skyphos and Rhyton
Parthian, 3rd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,680
Comprising a square base with a raised border and supported by four stub feet, each originally surmounted by poppy-head finials (some absent); a hollow-formed figure of a banqueteer reclining elegantly with his weight resting on his left elbow, his right leg drawn up beneath the folds of a finely pleated robe; in his right hand, a ram’s head rhyton and his left hand cradling a skyphos; his bearded head with a laurel wreath. 1.58 kg, 25 cm
Private New York collection, formed in the 1960s. Acquired on the North American art market, 1990s. with Cahn Auktionen AG, Basel, Switzerland, 13 November 2015, no.84 (CHF 18,000). 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 a search certificate number no.12379-226873.
The composition reflects the iconography of elite banquet culture in the ancient world, capturing both refinement and ritual in a single expressive figure. The Greek 'συμπόσιον' 'symposium' was the later part of a formal banquet which took place after the food had been consumed, when the serving of strong drink was accompanied by music, dancing, poetic composition or recital or earnest conversation. The custom has similarities with the Roman convivium and with the customs of many Mediterranean and Western Asiatic people. The Parthian Empire was culturally diverse and included many Hellenic groups; the Arsacid court adopted a range of aspects of contemporary Greek culture, among them Greek military structures and the Greek language as a lingua franca alongside the Parthian (Iranian) language and Aramaic.
