Ancient Greece, Athens (Attic), Group of Palermo 16, ca. 430 to 420 BCE. A very special red-figured lekythos depicting a winged Eros, the god of love, alighting toward a beautiful floral tendril - his slender, fit physique aspiring to the canon of Polykleitos, his magnificent wings meticulously delineated with plumage. Above and below Eros are egg-and-dart patterned borders, and two bands of frets adorn the shoulder of the vessel. Lustrous black glaze covers areas of the foot and handle, the majority of the body, and much of the spout save for the upper rim. The vessel presents a classic form comprised of a cylindrical body with a planar shoulder, a tapered tubular neck, a thick cup-shaped spout with a flat rim, and an applied strap handle joining neck to shoulder, all upon a tiered discoid base. Quite simply, this is a stunning piece, replete with symbolic imagery and an elegant form. Size: 8.125" H (20.6 cm)
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.
See Beazley Archive Pottery Database no. 12288.
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Christie's New York, 25 October 2017, lot 92; ex-D. Zimmermann, Geneva
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#143872
Condition
Red-figure imagery is vivid. Two areas of restoration to the foot. A few scuffs to the black surface. Old collection labels on underside of the base.