Ancient Greece, Boeotia, ca. 450 to 425 BCE. A large drinking vessel with high attenuated twin handles and a high stemmed foot, slipped in black with white painted and incised ivy vine motif across the upper body and vegetal motifs comprised of backwards S forms nested with dots encircling the lower body. Lovely hints of iridescence throughout. Size: 8" W x 10.25" H (20.3 cm x 26 cm)

The Etruscans in Italy produced bucchero kantharoi in the late 7th or early 6th century BCE and the shape was later adopted by Boeotian potters. The kantharos is a cup used to hold wine, possibly for drinking or for ritual use or offerings. The kantharos was also an attribute of Dionysus, the god of wine. He is often depicted holding this type of vessel. Satyrs, bestial goat-men associated with Dionysus, and Maenads, women who joined in the revelry of Dionysian festivals, were also commonly portrayed on painted pottery holding a kantharos. A similar kantharos (MNC 670) bearing a dedication in the Boeotian alphabet, from Thespiae, is in the collection of the Louvre Museum.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#121065

One handle reattached. Tiny nicks here and there. A 2" stabilized crack down one side of rim. Expected surface wear with pigment loss commensurate with age. Stunning iridescence.