Loading, please wait...
LOT 0094
Large Greek Red-Figure Skyphos with Owl
SOUTH ITALIAN, 5TH-4TH CENTURY B.C.
6 7/8 in. (239 grams, 17.5 cm).
With mammiform body, pedestal base and two loop handles; each side with a facing image of an owl between laurel fronds.
ProvenanceSwiss private collection, assembled in the 1960s-1970s.
Private collection, acquired in 2013.
Accompanied by a thermoluminescence analysis report no.N126a14 from Oxford Authentication.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12854-241751.
See Johnson, F. B., ‘An Owl Skyphos’, in Mylonas, G., Studies Presented to David Moore Robinson on His Seventieth Birthday, vol. 2, St. Louis, 1953, pp.96-105.
FootnotesBubo was the holy beloved magical owl of the goddess Athena, and it was a common subject on Greek painted ceramics. The owl-skyphos, originally produced in 5th century Athens, was extremely popular and was exported from Athens to other parts of the Greek world, including southern Italy and Etruria. Local imitations have been excavated at Corinth, and during the fourth century, or perhaps even slightly earlier, skyphoi similar to those from Athens were produced in Apulia and Etruria.
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.
-
Greek Terracotta Amphora Attributed to the Phineus Painter
Chalcidian, circa 525 B.C.Estimate: £4,000 - 6,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £2,500
Piriform body with splayed foot and narrow handles; the neck with slender lotus blossoms and palmettes, Side A) two opposing roosters with a lotus blossom in between, two standing swans flanking, below a youth on horseback holding the reins of a trotting horse, a man and a woman behind the horse; Side B) a grazing deer before an advancing panther looking back, two opposing sphinxes below with their heads turned back and front paws raised. 1.06 kg, 28 cm
Ex Münzen und Medaillen A.G., H. Cahn, Basel, 13 April 1985. Private collection, Bern, Switzerland. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12643-236366.
An important work by the leading master of the 'Chalcidian' workshop, which, despite the name, is not to be located in Chalkis itself but rather in a Chalcidian colony in Magna Graecia (possibly Rhegion). Within the oeuvre of Phineus, who is known for his neck-amphorae, examples with two image zones are very rare—see, for example, the fragmentary amphora in the Faina Collection in Orvieto, with similar sphinxes. -
Greek Terracotta Votive Head
Mediterranean, circa 700 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Bulbous head with stylised owl-like facial features, large applied pupils and ear; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 96 grams total, 46 mm (65 mm high including stand)
Acquired from Vanessa Purcell & Company, Manchester, UK, in 1993. From the collection of Mr & Mrs J.G.W. Lee, late Herefordshire collectors, their collection having been established from the 1990s. Accompanied by an original sales receipt. -
Greek Bronze Zoomorphic Ring
Circa 4th-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Comprising a slender hoop and a lentoid bezel with a leaping quadruped. 1.89 grams, 18.18 mm overal, 16.29 mm internal diameter (approximate size British K 1/2, USA 5 1/2, Europe 10.58, Japan 10)
From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s.
