Villanovan Impasto Kyathos with Comb-Etched Decoration

Comprising a round pedestal supporting four small offering pots, interspersed with four female face protomes; looped handle to the centre with parallel strokes in low-relief. 623 grams, 16 cm high



From the West German collection of H.W. Acquired from the De Mynter, Belgium, in 2011. with Gorny and Mosch, Munich, 3 June 2017, no.52. Private Portuguese R.M. collection. Accompanied by a previous catalogue information slip.

The kernos can be recognised by a series of small cups on the lip, with examples dating back to the Bronze Age. It was used to store offerings made to the gods, specifically in cults pertaining to Demeter and Persephone. The receptacles probably contained foodstuffs, or perhaps flowers, and a lamp was sometimes placed in the centre. Kernoses, such as this, were often carried in processions at the Eleusinian Mysteries (secret initiation rites celebrating the goddesses Demeter and Persephone) and were an important object for Greek religious life. Kernoses are thus closely related to the agrarian cult and to the myth of Persephone and Demeter, the goddess of fertility and agriculture. The myth is recounted in an Homeric Hymn (c. 650 B.C.) according to which Persephone, Demeter’s daughter, was seized by Hades, the king of the underworld, who brought her to his kingdom to make her his wife. Distraught, Demeter caused a terrible drought, which continued until Persephone returned to her mother from the underworld. Having consumed pomegranate seeds whilst she was in the Underworld, she was only able to be with her for a few months of the year.

Left hand modelled in the round with a ring to the third finger formed with a broad discoid bezel, the palm supporting a small broad bowl with six applied pellets for the offering; surface deposits and traces of pigment. 384 grams, 14.5 cm



From the private collection of C.H., Niedersachsen, acquired between the 1960s and 1987. Acquired from Gorny & Mosch, Munich, Germany, 18 December 2018, lot 94 (part). Property of a South Australian private collector, with collection reference 18.11. Accompanied by detailed collector's catalogue pages including description and photograph. Accompanied by a copy of the Gorny & Mosch invoice.

Including standing female with painted collar, and other types; each mounted on a custom-made display stand. 91 grams total, 63-94 mm 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.