Greece, Athens (Attic), attributed to the Group of Ferrara T 981, ca. 460 BCE. An opulent pottery skyphos adorned with red figure decoration of 2 women who are waiting in anticipation and preparation to join the retinue of Dionysus. Side A exhibits a woman seated on a rock, clad in a peplos, himation, a diadem with a tree at her back and a thyrsus before her. Alternatively, Side B displays the second woman shown standing and dressed in a saccos as she gestures toward a thyrsus leaning on an outcrop. While the thyrsus connects the women to the realm of Dionysus, its placement before each of them suggests that they have not yet completed the rites that would officially place them in the company of the god. Instead, they await their induction to the retinue, with the thyrsus placed before each of them as a symbol of their aspirations. Size: 11.1" W x 5.9" H (28.2 cm x 15 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.

This example has been featured in the following publications: (1) Kunstwerke der Antike: M?nzen und Medaillen, A.G., Basel, sale catalogue: 26 (1963), PL.52.141 (A, B); (2) J.D. Beazley, "Attic Red-Figured Vase-Painters," second edition, vol. II, Oxford, 1963, vol II, p. 1676, no. 8bis; (3) J.D. Beazley, "Paralipomena," Oxford, 1971, p. 436, no. 8bis; (4) C. Berard, et al., eds., "Images et societe en Grece ancienne : l'iconographie comme methode d'analyse," Lausanne, 1987, p. 146, fig. 1; (5) N. Dietrich, "Figur ohne Raum? B?ume und Felsen in der attischen Vasenmalerei des 6. und 5. Jahrhunderts v. Chr.," Berlin, 2010, p. 443, fig. 368; (6) Beazley Archive Pottery Database no. 275423.

Provenance: private Toronto, Ontario, Canada collection; ex-Christie's, New York, USA, Sale 21841, October 17, 2023, lot 33; ex-Beaussant-Lefevre & Associes, Un Hotel Particulier en Normandie: Les collection d'un aventurier, Paris, France, December 3, 2022, lot 35; ex-private Paris, France collection, acquired by 1971; ex-Kunstwerke der Antike, Auktion XXVI, Munzen und Medaillen, Basel, Switzerland, October 5, 1963, lot 141

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#182947

Professionally repaired with restoration over break lines. Expected nicks and abrasions to surface, commensurate with age. Otherwise, very nice presentation with great remains of pigments and detail.