Large Greek Terracotta Deep Glazed Bowl

Irregular fragment framed by a meander on one side and finely painted hand; reverse depicting foot and part of the chiton of a standing figure. 10.63 grams, 52 mm



Private collection, Europe.

With mammiform body, pedestal base and two loop handles; each side with a facing image of an owl between laurel fronds. 239 grams, 17.5 cm



Swiss 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.

Bubo was the holy beloved magical owl of the goddess Athena, and it was a common subject from the Greek ceramists. 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.

The body formed as a male head with his elongated neck forming the foot of the vessel; wearing an ivy-leaf crown, stylised, painted facial features and a full beard, two rows of stylised curls above the forehead; the neck of the vessel emerging from the top of his head, trefoil mouth and a handle to the rear; some repainting. 77 grams, 11.8 cm



Swiss private collection formed in 1960s-1970s. 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.13016-246780.

Head vases first appeared in the late 7th century B.C. in eastern Greece. The potters of Attica adopted this shape in the late 6th century, with a clear preference towards female heads, but not excluding male heads, especially when referring to mythological heroes or characters. The work, with its finely modelled features, is the product of an Attic workshop. According to the Beazley classification, the oinochoe should belong to the group N (Cook Class), generally dated to the 480-460 B.C. and widespread around the Mediterranean and Black Sea (a similar female example was found in Aphytis – Chalcidika).