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LOT 0055
Proto-Corinthian Painted Terracotta Aryballos
7TH CENTURY B.C.
4 1/8 in. (79 grams, 10.5 cm).
Comprising a piriform body and a tubular neck with a wide rim, a strap handle to the rear, the rim with painted polychrome petals, the pattern repeating beneath the neck and on the base of the vessel; the body decorated with fishscale decoration.
ProvenanceSwiss private collection, assembled in the 1960s and 1970s.
Acquired by the present owner in 2004.
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.30017-246794.
Cf. for similar aryballoi, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession nos.37.128.1 and 07.286.38; cf. also Anderson, J.K., ‘The Corinthian Pottery’ in Annual of the British School at Athens, Vol.53/54 (1958/1959), pp.138-151, no.84 pl.24; Saka A. and Aktaş R., ‘A group of archaic pottery from Çandarli at the Izmir Archaeological Museum in Gürtekin Demir R.G., Cevizoğlu, H., Polat Y. & Polat G. (eds), Archaic and Classical Western Anatolia: New Perspectives in Ceramic Studies, Proceedings of the second Keramos international conference at Ege University, Izmir, 3–5 June, 2015, Leuven – Paris – Bristol, 2018 cat.12-13 p.272; a lower portion of a similar Proto-Corinthian piriform aryballos was found in Sardis, see Sardis Museum inventory no.P61.252, and Schaeffer, J., Monograph 10: The Corinthian, Attic, and Lakonian Pottery from Sardis, Harvard, 1997, cat.no.48; for a comprehensive list of other examples in public and private collections see the fundamental work of Neeft, C.W., Protocorinthian Subgeometric Aryballoi (Allard Pierson Series, vol. 7), Amsterdam, 1987, pp. 282f., list 274, CX, CXI, CXIII, CXIV: NC 478A type1; on the scale patterns in general, ibid. pp.275-289.
FootnotesThe aryballoi were used to hold perfumed oil, an essential item for the wealthy middle classes of the time. Similar piriform vases are fairly common in Corinthian contexts. There is utmost precision in both the potting and the execution of the incised scale pattern of the present example. The fish-scale decoration was realised with the incision technique, by executing the scales neatly with their ends meeting.
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Greek Black-Figure Ware Kylix
Attic, circa 5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,900
Broad and shallow with two strap handles, an advancing figure holding a shield at the tondo, outside with a figural frieze of two robed figures in discussion, seated on churule chairs, an attendant behind the left figure, a rider on horseback on each side of the scene; restored. 373 grams, 26 cm
From a German collection, pre 1970. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13316-258818.
The present piece is a wide-bowled drinking cup known as a kylix - one of the most popular forms of pottery from the Achaean times (1600-1100 B.C.) through to the classical period (c.510-323 B.C.). It dates to an important moment in the development of Greek ceramics, just as the black-figure technique was being perfected by Athenian painters. Painted in black slip with details incised on top, kylikes usually had a frieze around the outside of the bowl as well as another scene on the tondo of the inside. -
Greek Terracotta Rhyton of a Goddess
3rd-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,720
With flanged and stepped rim, tapering curved body, figural finial of the goddess with diadem; bands of red and cream geometric detail to the rim and upper body, red wave patterns to the inner face; the goddess modelled with carefully dressed hair and floral diadem, ringlets cascading to her collar bone, alert facial expression with almond-shaped eyes and prominent nose, with C-shaped billetted collar and chiton, cupping her left breast in her right hand; mounted on a custom-made stand. 1.25 kg, 24 cm
Private collection, London, UK; formed 1970s-1980s. 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.13312-258233.
It is challenging to identify the divinity represented on our vessel: it can be associated with Ariadne, wife of the god Dionysus, but also with a Parthian goddess such as Anahita. She was a Zoroastrian goddess associated with water, fertility, and wisdom, widely venerated across the Parthian Empire and often invoked alongside Ahura Mazda in royal and religious inscriptions. Rhyta in her likeness, typically terminating in a zoomorphic or divine protome, were used as ceremonial drinking vessels, reflecting Anahita's close association with libation and purification rites. -
Greek Black-Figure Alabastron with Fighting Warriors
Attic, 500-480 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £13,000
Of ovoid shape, short neck and expanded flat rim; painted in horizontal bands with black vertical strokes the shoulder, ovules in the upper part, the central scene representing a Greek Ekdromos fighting a Scythian archer; the Greek warrior, wearing a light sleeveless chiton, and a crested Corinthian helmet, carrying a wide hoplon shield, and a long spear with which he is slashing his opponent; the Scythian archer is wearing a typical tall cap flowing backwards and his long coat-suit, carrying a gorytos, (quiver) and composite bow with arrow; horizontal black stripes below; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 262 grams total, 16 cm high including stand
Louis-Gabriel Bellon (1819-1899) collection, France. European private collection, 2009. 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.13019-246753.
The importance of this alabastron is linked to its iconography, which represents episodes of the Persian Wars, fought 490-480 B.C. Such alabastra are part of a series realised during the period of the conflict and after, and they are an important source of information on the Persian and Greek armies. Here, the two opponents evoke the Greek victories, with a light-armed Greek ekdromos (hoplite fighting in light equipment) killing a Scythian archer, who formed part of the Persian army. The representation of Scythian costume in vase-painting reached its height of popularity between c. 530 and 490 B.C., and went out of fashion after the Graeco-Persian wars, when these clothes began to be associated with the Persian ethnic identity rather than the original Scythian.
