Tall Greek Apulian Amphora - Seated Warrior in Naiskos

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Antiquities from Egypt, Greece, Italy, Asia

By Artemis Gallery

Oct 25, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-10-25 11:00:00 2018-10-25 11:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Antiquities from Egypt, Greece, Italy, Asia https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/antiquities-from-egypt-greece-italy-asia-3538
Featuring Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Near Eastern, plus Asian art from Central and Far East. If you love the classics, this is the sale for you. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Magna Graecia, Southern Italy, Apulian, ca. 330 to 320 BCE. An impressive red-figure amphora of a grand scale, presenting a classic form with intriguing iconography and decoration, all finely delineated via the red-figure technique with additional fugitive white, yellow/orange, and red pigments. A remarkable vase of the so-called Ornate Style and an impressively grand scale, decorated with a fine hand to depict intriguing figural scenes (see more discussion about these below) as well as a great deal of subsidiary ornament in added colors. Size: 10.75" W x 24.625" H (27.3 cm x 62.5 cm)
  
  Side A of this amphora features a seated male figure within an Ionic-columnated naiskos. The young man most likely represents a warrior given that he brandishes a sword in his raised right hand and holds the decorative scabbard in his left hand. The youthful male is nude aside from a cloak fastened above his pectorals and cascading over his shoulders, down his back, and below his seated thighs. He is presented in composite profile so that we can admire his muscular physique and full anatomy as well as view his noble profile. Side B presents a pair of draped attendants, standing and facing one another in opposing profiles.
  
  In addition to the figural imagery are the extensive decorative elements. Note the continuous band of laurel leaves beneath the rim created via fugitive white pigment, the black fan palmette and vertical rays on the neck and shoulder above the attendants, and on the opposite side, the red and white flowers, foliage tendrils, and ribbons surrounding the ornamented pediment and Ionic columns of the naiskos. Below the naiskos is a register of dotted swirling motifs, and below the entire painted program is a Greek key band punctuated by three dotted checkerboard motifs that surrounds the lower end of the vessel's body. Finally, beneath the elegant twin handles are large, complex red-figure palmettes.
  
  Virtually no ancient Greek paintings have survived the tests of time. This makes the painted compositions found on ceramic vessels like this example invaluable sources of information about ancient Greek visual art. Refined vases like this amphora were not merely utilitarian pottery, but rather works of art in their own right, highly prized throughout the classical world. Red figure pieces in particular allowed for the development of more naturalistic imagery than black figure examples. This innovative technique involved creating figures by outlining them in the natural red of the vase, making it possible for the painter to then enrich the figural forms with black lines to suggest volume, 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.
  
  Provenance: private Davis collection, Houston, Texas, USA
  
  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.
  
  #140079

  Condition

  Chips to rim and base. Expected surface wear with some pigment loss as shown, but nice remaining painted details. Rim/upper neck/handles reattached. TL hole beneath rim.
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