Greek Apulian Red-Figure Lidded Olpe - Lady of Fashion

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Ancient | Asian | Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Jan 16, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-01-16 10:00:00 2020-01-16 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Ancient | Asian | Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/ancient-asian-ethnographic-4799
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• Lot Description
  Magna Graecia, South Italy, Apulian, ca. 4th century BCE. A gorgeous lidded olpe of an attractive form comprised of a generous body, a cylindrical neck that gently flares at the rim, a single bifurcated strap handle joining rim to shoulder, and a lid that fits perfectly. The body is finely painted with a Lady of Fashion delineated via the red figure technique with white fugitive pigment details. She is presented in profile wearing a beaded saccos with a radiate stephane, a beaded necklace, and a drop pendant earring. The Lady faces a spray of feathers or leaves, and beneath the conjoined handle which separates slightly at the rim is a large palmette with side scrolls and tendrils. Adding to the decorative program is a band of berried laurel leaves with a stylized petaled flower adorning the neck and striated bands in red and black just above and upon the pedestal foot. Size: 5.125" D x 8.25" H (13 cm x 21 cm)
  
  The lid is also extensively decorated - presenting another Lady of Fashion who is similarly bedecked with jewelry and saccos with radiate stephane as well as palmette and tendrils.
  
  Perhaps the most exciting innovation in Greek vase painting was the red-figure technique, invented in Athens around 525 BCE and beloved by other artists of Magna Graecia. The red-figure technique allowed for much greater flexibility as opposed to the black-figure technique, for now the artist could use a soft, pliable brush rather than a rigid metal graver to delineate interior details, play with the thickness of the lines, as well as build up or dilute glazes to create chromatic effects. The painter would create figures by outlining them in the natural red of the vase, and then enrich these figural forms with black lines to suggest volume, at times perspectival depth, and movement, bringing those silhouettes and their environs to life. Beyond this, fugitive pigments made it possible for the artist to create additional layers of interest and detail as we see in this example.
  
  Provenance: private J.H. collection, Beaverton, Oregon, USA, acquired in 2014 to August 2016; (vessel) ex-Clive R. Sawyer collection, Kent, England, UK
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #149638

  Condition

  Lid is not original to the vessel. Aside from minor surface wear, the lid is excellent - intact with nice mineral deposits, some encrustation, and root marks as well. The vessel body has been repaired from multiple pieces with restoration over the break lines and some inpainting to the Lady and possibly to the palmette. Normal surface wear with scuffs, minor pigment loss, and minute nicks commensurate with age. Nice deposits grace the underside of the base and interior.
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