Description:
This is a lovely amphoriskos ("small amphora") from Corinth, decorated by a known painter, usually referred to as the Painter of the Louvre Amphoriskoi.
There are two friezes. The upper frieze shows a siren on one side between the two handles, the wings spread, and an ibex on the other side; near each of the handles a duck is depicted. The lower frieze shows two pairs of lions and ibexes, and a duck or other water-fowl below one of the handles.
The background shows many rosettes and dots; in addition several decorative lines were used on the neck and handles, and a series of lines separates the two friezes. Details and decoration are in red.
Amphoriskoi (plural of amphoriskos) were used to store perfumed oil.
Parallels:
A close parallel is in the Louvre Museum, Paris, E 445; CA 2578 (Lefevre-Pontalis Bequest). Another can be found in the British Museum London, GR 1860,0404.17.
Literature:
Edmond Pottier, Vases antiques du Louvre, tome 1 (Paris, Hachette et Cie., 1897), pl. 41;
Darrell Arlynn Amyx, Corinthian Vase-Painting of the Archaic Period, vol. 1: Catalogue (California Studies in the History of Art, 25) (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, University of California Press, 1988), p. 222;
Kunstwerke der Antike, Auktion XXII (Basel, Munzen und Medaillen AG, 1961), Tafel 31, 113.
Dating:
Middle Corinthian, ca. 600-575 B.C.
Size:
Height 16.7 cm.
Provenance:
Private collection R.M., Canton Bern, Switzerland (1956-1979).
Condition:
Intact; two very tiny chips on the rim; surface slightly worn; some scratches; colours slightly lighter on one side due to misfiring of the red slip.
SOLD
Stock number:
C0144