An Attic stamnos in Six Technique
Workshop of the Antimenes Painter, circa 510 B.C.
Depicting a muscular Theseus running to the right, wearing a short chiton and animal skin with incised spots, holding his sword in his right hand, his left aloft, chasing the Minotaur who with arms outstretched and tail flying, turns to look back at the Athenian hero behind him, Ariadne is shown moving to the left, wearing a long peplos decorated with stars, her arms out in front, 'THESEUS' inscribed in Greek vertically to the right of the hero, 'MINOTA' to the right of the Minotaur, and 'ARIADNE' (sic) to the right of the princess, with a dedication around the shoulder to '[ARL]EADE KALOS', 9 5/8in (24.5cm) high
Workshop of the Antimenes Painter, circa 510 B.C.
Depicting a muscular Theseus running to the right, wearing a short chiton and animal skin with incised spots, holding his sword in his right hand, his left aloft, chasing the Minotaur who with arms outstretched and tail flying, turns to look back at the Athenian hero behind him, Ariadne is shown moving to the left, wearing a long peplos decorated with stars, her arms out in front, 'THESEUS' inscribed in Greek vertically to the right of the hero, 'MINOTA' to the right of the Minotaur, and 'ARIADNE' (sic) to the right of the princess, with a dedication around the shoulder to '[ARL]EADE KALOS', 9 5/8in (24.5cm) high
Sold for
£210,000
inc. premium
Footnotes
- Provenance:
Ex Ferruccio Bolla Collection, (1911-1984) Lugano. Sold at Ars Antiqua A.G., Lucerne, sale catalogue 13, 07 December 1957, pl.10-11, no.14; Munzen und Medaillen A.G. Basel, Aukion 70, 14 November 1986, lot 206.
Ex Stavros S. Niarchos Collection, no.A005; sold at Christie's New York, 07 December 2000, lot 441.
Property of a private English collector 2001-2009.
Exhibited:
Stamnoi, J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1980, no.7.
Published:
B. Philippaki, The Attic Stamnos, (Oxford, 1967), pl.1
C. Isler-Kerényi, Stamnoi, (Lugano, 1976), pp.29-35.
C. Isler-Kerényi, Stamnoi, An Exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum, (Malibu, 1980), no.7.
L.I. Marangou, et al., Ancient Greek Art from the Collection of Stavros S. Niarchos, (Athens, 1995), pp.106-107, 109, no.16.
Literature:
Six Technique is named after Jan Six, a Dutch scholar who identified the rare technique in 1888. At the end of the 6th Century B.C. Athenian vase painters such as the workshop of the Antimenes Painter to whom this stamnos is attributed, began to experiment with new techniques, including red-figure which would eventually supercede the prevalent black-figure technique. Six Technique involved 'laying on figures in white or red on an all-black surface and incising details so that the black, not the clay shows through.' J. Boardman, Athenian Black Figure Vases, (London, 1974), p. 178. It was a merging of the black-figure technique's use of incision, with a new and vibrant use of colour that would become the norm with red-figure. The rarity of Six Technique is mainly due to the short-lived fashion for it; largely dying out by the early 5th Century B.C.
Stamnoi are also a rare form of vase, and without handles, are even more unusual. Isler-Kerényi, (Stamnoi, p.29) points out that this example is particularly singular: 'the tree protagonists are placed in such a way that, on turning the vase around, only one is visible at a time: a three-fold grouping made possibly through the absence of handles and which is therefore rare, if not unique.'
Auction Notices
- Please note that the footnote has been amended as follows: Provenance: Ex Ferruccio Bolla Collection, (1911-1984) Lugano. Sold at Munzen und Medaillen A.G. Basel, Aukion 70, 14 November 1986, lot 206. Sold at Christie's New York, 07 December 2000, lot 441. Property of a private English collector 2001-2009. Exhibited: Stamnoi, J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1980, no.7. Published: C. Isler-Kerényi, Stamnoi, (Lugano, 1976), pp.29-35. C. Isler-Kerényi, Stamnoi, An Exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum, (Malibu, 1980), no.7.
Category: Antiquities
Auction terms and conditions