Crater of columns attributed to the Florentine painter. Attica Greece, ca. 460-450 B.C. Ceramics. Provenance: Private collection, London. Acquired on

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Archaeology, Session I

By Setdart Auction House

Dec 22, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-12-22 08:30:00 2021-12-22 08:30:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Archaeology, Session I https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/archaeology-session-i-8050
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• Lot Description
  Crater of columns attributed to the Florentine painter. Attica Greece, ca. 460-450 B.C. Ceramics. Provenance: Private collection, London. Acquired on the art market in Europe during the 1980s -1990s. Attached thermoluminescence test. Recomposed from all the original fragments. Measures: 38 cm (height) x 35 cm (diameter). Column crater from Attica, attributed to the Painter of Florence (c.465-440 BC) and decorated with the technique of red figures. The obverse, with a scene starring the god Dionysus on a mule and two satyrs, stands out for its high degree of decorativism; the reverse, meanwhile, continues the aesthetics of the rest of the piece, presenting a scene of encounter with three characters (two men and a woman) arranged in a row, dressed in prominent togas and holding long sticks in their hands. The scenes are framed by double vertical dotted bands. As it used to happen in the decoration of column craters, the upper part is decorated with geometric motifs. Regarding the typology, the krater was a large capacity vessel, intended to contain a mixture of water and wine. It was carried to the place of the meal, deposited on the floor or on a platform. The cupbearer administered the drink with a spoon or pitcher, and then filled the cups of the guests. Within this typology there was the columned krater, very popular in Athens in the 5th century BC. The "Krater Korinthios" (as it was also known) denotes its possible Corinthian origin. Red-figure pottery was one of the most important figurative styles of Greek pottery. It was developed in Athens around 530 B.C., and was used until the 3rd century B.C. It replaced the previous predominant style of black-figured pottery within a few decades. The technical basis was the same in both cases, but in the red figures the coloring is inverted, the figures being highlighted on a dark background, as if they were illuminated by a theatrical light, following a more natural scheme. Painters working with black figures were forced to keep the motifs well separated from each other and to limit the complexity of the illustration. In contrast, the red-figure technique allowed greater freedom. Each figure was silhouetted against a black background, allowing painters to portray anatomical details with more accuracy and variety. Over time these decorations would become more complex, incorporating numerous details in both black and white, which enhanced the narrative and decorative sense of the representations. The technique consisted of painting the motifs on the piece while it was still wet, using a transparent varnish that, when fired, acquired an intense black hue. Therefore, the motifs were invisible before firing, which meant that the painters had to work entirely from memory, without being able to see their previous work. Once the piece was fired, the areas not covered by the glaze remained with the reddish tone of the clay, while the glazed, "painted" areas took on a dense, shiny black color.
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