Magna Graecia, Southern Italy, Apulia, ca. 330 BCE. Finely painted via the red-figure technique, an elegant and very large pelike vessel of a classic globular form with a cylindridal neck rising to a flared rim, and twin fluted strap handles, all upon a raised, concave, disc foot. Side A depicts a male youth standing in composite profile in the nude save the cloak over his outstretched left arm, holding a situla in his right hand. On the left and facing the youth is a female dressed in a flowing chiton and sandals, adorned with a beaded necklace and bracelets and holding a mirror in her left upraised hand. Side B features two cloaked male figures standing in opposition, the one on the right holding a walking stick, with a maker's mark between them. Size: 7.625" in diameter x 11.75" H (19.4 cm x 29.8 cm)
In addition to this marvelous figural program, the vessel is decorated with a running wave motif on both sides of the neck and lovely composite palmettes below the handles.
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.
Provenance: ex-Estate of Eldert Bontekoe, Pegasi Numismatics, Ann Arbor, Michigan USA acquired before 2000
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.
We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
#158264
Condition
Vessel remarkably intact and excellent. Surface deposits and a few areas of wear/abrasions to paint. A very fine and desirable example. Collection marks/label on underside of base.