Magna Graecia, South Italic, Apulia, ca. 340 to 320 BCE. An attractive Apulian red-figure pottery patera, the tondo decorated with a female Lady of Fashion painted in profile wearing a saccos and an elaborate coiffure, encircled by a band of wave motifs and a surrounding register of undulating leafy berry vines highlighted with added fugitive white and yellow pigment. The form is inherently attractive with its large and relatively shallow bowl, flattened rim, upraised twin looped handles that are further adorned with fluting and flanked with raised button-like knob appliques, and a band of black wave motifs around the perimeter. A beautiful and quite sizeable example. Size: 15.75" W handlespan x 5" H (40 cm x 12.7 cm)
Apulia was the center of this style of painting for the South Italic Greek colonies, with half of all surviving red-figure vessels coming from that area. Most of these were produced at Taras, the large Greek polis in the region. The "Lady of Fashion" motif is thought to represent a young woman on her wedding day, and this beautiful vessel may have been given as a gift to a bride.
This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A full report will accompany purchase.
Provenance: private J.H. collection, Beaverton, Oregon, USA, acquired around 2018; ex-Palmyra Heritage Gallery, New York, New York, USA
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#149630
Condition
TL holes under rim and inside base. Professionally repaired from about 6 to 8 pieces with restoration over the break lines, but very well done. Normal surface wear with slight losses to paint, but much remains and the decorative/iconographic program is still strong.