Magna Graecia, Apulian, ca. 4th century BCE. A splendid and quite sizable pottery skyphos boasting red-figure decoration of a nude ephebe and a draped female holding feathers or stalks of wheat, indicating she may be Demeter (Roman Ceres), the Greek goddess of the harvest and agriculture. The male youth stands in contrapposto facing left with one arm extended to grasp a cane, while billowing folds of drapery cascade down from his left arm. On the other side, the woman strides right with each hand raised as though dancing. A long peplos drapes her slender body, and her hair is pulled up in a kekryphalos, exposing dangling earrings and a string of beads that adorns her clavicle. The pair are separated by ornate double palmette motifs that lie just below each horizontal handle, while an undulating pattern embellishes the rim. Size: 12.7" W x 7.5" H (32.3 cm x 19 cm)

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. Beyond this, fugitive pigments made it possible for the artist to create additional layers of interest and detail as we see in this example.

Provenance: private Rancho Mirage, California, USA collection, by inheritance in 2020; ex-Dr. TDR Berreth, California, USA, acquired before 1982

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#178935

Professionally repaired and restored with some areas of overpainting, as well as visible break lines. Nicks, chips, and abrasions as shown, but otherwise nice remaining pigment and detail.