South Italian Black-Glazed Miniature Hydria

Ovate in profile with slightly stepped lower body, everted rim; circumferential painted bands, hatching and herringbone patterns. 1.13 kg, 25 cm high



Acquired Bonhams, London, UK. From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Modelled in the round as a miniature flat-bottomed boat with sternpost and three thwarts, one supporting the reclining figure of the boatman; supplied with a custom-made display stand. 728 grams total, 24.5 cm wide including stand



From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. Accompanied by an old identification tag. Accompanied by an original thermoluminescence analysis report from Oxford Authentication.

A series of ship models, today preserved in the Metropolitan Museum and in the British Museum, depict in considerable detail the features of contemporary vessels, including the helmsman sitting in the bow, the spurs of the ships and the raised stern. All of the preserved ship models come from Amathus, indicating the importance of the site as a maritime centre. Our model could come from the same area. This clay model shows a man who comfortably sits on the back of the ship: we do not know his role and his activity, but – as observed by professor M.A. Mcintosh, he is part of a theōriā, a state pilgrim (theōros). Certainly, he represents the helmsman, the kubernētēs, i.e. the governor who directs the ship.

With globular lower body supporting a broad and slightly waisted tubular neck with everted rim, D-shaped spur to the forward face, strap handle to the rear with flat-section thumb-pad, trumpet-shaped foot; the thumb-pad and rim with painted bands of pointillé decoration, rim with muti-linear radiating bands, vertical bands to the neck formed with hatched lozenges, hatched horizontal and vertical bands to the lower body and wavy linear bands beneath the foot; old collector's reference '15.76' to underside; 535 grams, 19.5 cm



Formerly part of the Cesnola collection. this item has a red-ink inscription to the base suggesting it may have been deaccessioned from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. with Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 26 May 1982, no.411. with Christie's, New York, 11 June 2003, no.95 (part). From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Christie's catalogue pages.