South Italian Black-Glazed Miniature Hydria

The piriform bottle with broad everted rim and strap handle, polychrome painted dashes and concentric bands to the upper body and rim; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 36 grams total, 77 mm high including stand



Acquired 1980s-1990s. From the H.N. collection, Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, UK.

The alabastron takes its name from the material (alabaster) from which it was originally produced by the people who inhabited Mediterranean Africa from where it spread in the classical world. From an archaeological point of view, our specimen belongs to the first type of alabastrons, a conventional form of Corinthian origin, widespread throughout Greece from the second half of the 7th century BC. to the mid-6th century B.C., characterised by an elongated body with a maximum diameter towards the base, and continuous profile. It seems to be an Etrusco-Corinthian variant.

Depicting a young man dressed in a long cloak, the right hand resting on a staff, facing a young woman wrapped in a long himation, covering her head and leaving the face uncovered; the scene enclosed within a medallion decorated with meanders and chequered squares; remains of the stem to the reverse with painted figures on the edge; repaired. 91 grams, 13 cm



Acquired before 2005. Private collection, Europe. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11796-206819.

This red-figure scene once possibly formed part of a kylix, a cup made for drinking. The decoration of the tondo surrounding the figures allows a comparison with some works of the painter Onesimos and the potter Euphronios. In particular the meanders on the medallion, and the working of the figures, seems to recall the work of Onesimos, who preferred to decorate cups, many of them thrown by the famous Euphronios.

Modelled in the round with a muscular nude body, his club lifted in his right hand behind his head, his hair dressed in rows of tight, close-set curls underneath a Nemean lionskin hood with cloak billowing over his left arm, the paws tied across his chest; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 290 grams total, 14.5 cm high (19.5 cm high including stand)

Fine condition, excellent uniform patina.

with Sotheby's, New York, 21 November 1985, lot 60. Ex private New York collection. 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.11794-206497.

The statuette assumes the position of the 'attacking Hercules', which characterises numerous Etruscan statues of the hero of the classical era, however, with a less aggressive stance. The type was probably an Etruscan creation of the 5th century B.C., based on Greek models, which lasted until the end of the Hellenistic period, when Etruria was by then incorporated into the Roman world. This statuette, despite certain anatomical stylisation and an impersonal characterisation of the face, is the result of a good artistic and technical quality. The comparison of the artwork with the group identified as ‘Trieste’ from Colonna shows that this specimen is more recent and should be dated to the end of the Hellenistic Age. These small statuettes were probably offered ex-voto by the Romano-Etruscan aristocracy of the period.