Greek Black-Figure Lekythos w/ Dionysus - Gela Painter

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Exceptional Antiquities Ethnographic Fine Art...

By Artemis Gallery

Mar 24, 2022

Set Reminder 2022-03-24 10:00:00 2022-03-24 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities Ethnographic Fine Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-ethnographic-fine-art-9057
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• Lot Description
  Ancient Greece, Athens, attributed to the Gela Painter, ca. 510 to 490 BCE. What a treat! A superb pottery lekythos boasting a traditionally slender and elegant form, finely decorated via the black-figure technique with incised and added fugitive painted details depicting a symposium with Dionysus - Roman Bacchus - the god of wine, pleasure, ritual madness, ecstasy, and theater surrounded by 3 members of his thiasus - 2 satyrs and a maenad. The reclining deity lies semi-recumbent atop a bed with his left arm bent at the elbow and leaning on a pillow to prop up his upper body, while his right elbow rests on his knee - a pose reminiscent of Pheidias's marble sculpture of Dionysus on the East pediment of the Parthenon, now housed in the British Museum (1816,0610.93). Billowing folds of luxurious fabric cascade across his lap as he looks left, displaying a refined profile with a pointed beard, a thick coiffure, a naturalistic ear, and an annular eye. Size: 3.3" Diameter x 9.3" H (8.4 cm x 23.6 cm)
  
  A maenad draped in a peplos stands to his to his right, placing her right hand on her hip and extending her left arm as she steps toward the likely-intoxicated god. The pair are flanked by 2 satyrs, both exhibiting muscular physiques, lengthy tails, tapered beards, and projecting phalluses. Standing nude, each of the mythical creatures faces inward toward their divine leader. Note the fugitive white pigment that decorates the bed, the fabric on Dionysus, the peplos of the maenad, and most importantly the skin of the maenad - an attribute unique to females depicted in Greek black-figure painting. A grapevine - a clear reference to the Dionysian delight of wine - adorns the area above the group, while black-painted horizontal striations lie above and below the scene. The graceful vessel is further embellished by a band of tongues surrounding the base of the neck, a palmette motif along the shoulder, and a horizontal, zigzag striation just below the shoulder edge. Lustrous black paint envelops the exterior of the rim, the handle, the bottom of the body, and the foot.
  
  Portrayals of Dionysus from this time period often show him with a full beard; later artists shifted to depicting him as a youth, with a smooth face, while his follower Silenus was shown as an older man with a full beard. The cult of Dionysus was hugely popular in the Greco-Roman world, and symbols of the god and his followers are found on many vessels, sculptures, and monuments - signifying the freedom created by wine, music, and ecstatic dance. Maenads and satyrs were female and male followers of Dionysus, respectively, and made up an important part of the god's retinue, known as the thiasus. Translating to "raving ones," the maenads were often portrayed in a state of euphoric frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication, while satyrs were nature spirits with the ears and tails of horses and were similarly characterized by their lascivious and inebriated behaviors, as well as their love of wine, women, music, and dancing.
  
  Athens excelled in ceramics from the first half of the sixth century BCE, and its creations outnumbered those of all other artistic centers in the ancient world. Greek pottery became synonymous with Attic ware, the pottery created in the region around Athens, as it was regarded as the most beautiful and the most 'modern', and thus, the most widely exported. Artists used the black-figure vase painting technique, applying figural and ornamental motifs with a slip that turned black during the firing process; however, the background remained the inherent color of the clay. As we see in this example, vase painters articulated individual forms by incising the slip. Sometimes additional white and yellow slip details were added, as we see in this example. The form of representation was still somewhat Archaic, with heads and bodies shown in strict profile; however, this example begins to demonstrate an interest in three-dimensional modelling of the figures and conveying movement and the illusion of depth.
  
  This lekythos is attributed to the Gela painter, an Athenian black-figure vase-painter whose name is unknown, but was dubbed Gela by Beazley as the majority of his work has been found in Gela, Sicily. According to the British Museum, "He is one of a group of prolific fairly undistinguished black-figure vase-painters specialising mostly in lekythoi, working at the same time as the flowering of the finest red-figure vase-painters. He sometimes uses a white ground for his black-figure work."
  
  See a remarkably similar example in the British Museum under museum number 1863,0728.224.
  
  Though of a slightly larger scale, another black-figure lekythos by the Gela Painter was sold by Christie's New York for $15,000 as lot 65 in Live auction 12257 "Antiquities" on October 25th, 2016.
  
  Provenance: private East Coast collection, New York, New York, USA, acquired before 2010
  
  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.
  
  PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
  
  Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
  
  #170775

  Condition

  Repair to neck, rim, and handle with restoration over break lines. Indentation behind satyr on left side. Chipping to foot. Some nicks and abrasions throughout, as well as a few areas of repainting. Otherwise, excellent with impressive remaining details and pigments. Underside of foot is carved with letters "AV."
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