Greek, Athens (Attic), ca. 5th century BCE. A precious Attic red-figured lekythos of a miniature form decorated with a finely painted, red-figure sphinx on the body and a black egg-and-dart pattern on the shoulder. Facing right, the mythical creature displays the body of a lion with sizeable wings extending from the shoulders and the head of a woman in profile. Her hair in a low-set chignon, the fascinating being raises her left paw as a sinuous tail extends from her zoomorphic posterior. A thick black band envelops the area beneath the red rim, while the periphery of the foot is adorned by a fine-line black stripe. Lekythoi were used for storing oil used for a wide variety of purposes in the Classical World. While larger examples were usually designated for keeping olive oil, smaller and more delicate examples like this were reserved for the bath to store precious unguents of sweet and floral aromas. Size: 1.5" Diameter x 3.7" H (3.8 cm x 9.4 cm)

Although the Great Sphinx of Giza is certainly the most famous, sphinxes have a large place in Greek mythology as well - probably because of the intermixing of Egyptian and Greek culture via trade routes across the Mediterranean. The Greek version of the creature has the head of a human female, the body of a lioness, the wings of an eagle, and a serpent's tail. Famously, the sphinx asks a riddle of travelers to the city of Thebes, which is solved by Oedipus. The Greek version of the sphinx is also sometimes associated with Hera, wife of Zeus.

Perhaps the most exciting innovation in Greek vase painting was the red-figure technique, invented in Athens around 525 BCE and beloved by other artists of Magna Graecia. The red-figure technique allowed for much greater flexibility as opposed to the black-figure technique, for now the artist could use a soft, pliable brush rather than a rigid metal graver to delineate interior details, play with the thickness of the lines, as well as build up or dilute glazes to create chromatic effects. The painter would create figures by outlining them in the natural red of the vase, and then enrich these figural forms with black lines to suggest volume, at times perspectival depth, and movement, bringing those silhouettes and their environs to life.

Cf. Museo Civico Archeologico di Bologna, PU314, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, 81589, and Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, B97 and B154.

Provenance: private Marysville, California, USA collection; ex-Artemis Gallery, Louisville, Colorado, USA, Exceptional Day 1: Antiquities Asian Fine Art auction, May 22, 2019, lot 25; ex private Owen collection, New Jersey, USA, acquired in the 1990s; ex-USA art dealer

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#171115

Minor nicks to rim, shoulder, and foot. Light surface wear commensurate with age. Otherwise, intact and excellent with nice remaining pigments and strong imagery.