South Italian Blackware Wine Kantharos with Vine

Broad conical vessel on a small flat base with interior and exterior glazed black; the inner face decorated with incised, reserved concentric circles and a partially-preserved rosette with a dotted frieze in added white; vertical fissure in the wall, two small fragments reattached to the rim; partially misfired, due to the way the vessels were stacked in the oven; supplied with a display stand. 335 grams, 21.5 cm wide



Property of a private collector. with Bonhams, London, 16 May 2002, no.551. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00075157. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Of ovoid form with trumpet-shaped spout and strap handle, reserved image of a lady wearing a large himation, on a baseline with scrolled foliage. 106 grams, 11 cm



Ex German collection, 1970. with Galerie Chenel, Paris, 22 July 2008. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

The word lekythos had a wide meaning in ancient Greece, probably generally meaning all oil jugs, including the athletes' oil bottle (now called aryballos) as well as the types now given this name by archaeologists. Certain lekythoi resemble certain oenochoe superficially, at a first glance. Oenochoes, however, were wine-pitchers and in most cases were larger than the lekythoi, which were small jugs for oil, perfumes, etc.

Comprising the upper two thirds of the vessel; on the shoulder a facing woman's head with diadem and half-veiled face; rosettes to left and right, with suspended ribbons and dots; vine motif around the body with floral ornaments; to the reverse, palmettes and vines; band of laurel with rosettes around the neck and wavy band at the mouth; reassembled from various fragments with three large areas of restoration, only the beginnings of the handles preserved; mounted on a custom-made stand. 1.95 kg, 31 cm (2.6 kg total, 47.5 cm high including stand)



Ex Herbert A. Cahn, Basel, 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12475-228738. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

The face-veiling gesture is a known marriage rite; the diadem may suggest that she is intended to represent Persephone. Alternatively, the veiled woman might be a dancer as many terracotta figurines of dancing women are shown with face-coverings. However, the floral ornaments could indicate a funeral or sepulchral context.