Description:
This is a superb Etruscan black bucchero ware kantharos (a high-handled drinking cup) of museum quality. The kantharos has high arching strap handles which extend above the lip of the cup and give it a very elegant shape. The vessel sits on a shallow flared foot and is decorated with a toothed ridge around the base.
In the 7th and 6th centuries B.C., bucchero cups like this one were exported all over the Mediterranean; the Greeks adopted the form.
Bucchero ware is well known for its black fabric and glossy surface. This was achieved through firing the pieces in a special way, by closing the vent holes of the kiln once the pottery was placed inside (or, as recent research suggests, by firing the bucchero within sealed containers filled with organic material such as sawdust). The effect of reducing the amount of oxygen was that the presence of carbon monoxide was caused, and this in turn converted the colour of the clay (normally red due to the presence of iron, which oxidizes when fired) into the typical bucchero colours, varying from gray to black. The shiny surface of bucchero pots was usually achieved by burnishing.
Literature:
Tom B. Rasmussen, Bucchero Pottery from Southern Etruria (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1979), p. 101-110, pls. 30-33; John W. Hayes, Etruscan and Italic Pottery in the Royal Ontario Museum: a Catalogue (Toronto, 1985), p. 75, 77 (nos. C22-23); Philip Perkins, Etruscan Bucchero in the British Museum (British Museum Research Publications, 165) (London, British Museum, 2007), p. 45-50, 114-118 (nos. 161-191).
Dating:
Circa 6th century B.C.
Size:
Height 13 cm., width including handles 20 cm.
Provenance:
UK private collection, bought from Bonhams, London on 26th October 2007, lot 374; previously UK private collection, bought from Bonhams ca. 1992-1997.
Condition:
Intact and choice with a lovely lustrous black surface. There is no repair, restoration or encrustation, just a tiny imperfection (a few mm) on the inside of the bowl, caused by an air pocket in the clay when the kantharos was made, and some of the usual unimportant scratches and small dents found on virtually every ancient vase. An extremely fine piece.
SOLD
Stock number:
C0728