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Lot 11*

A Corinthian terracotta figural vessel of a Comast

7 July 2016, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

£6,000 - £8,000

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A Corinthian terracotta figural vessel of a Comast
Early 6th Century B.C.
Depicted squatting with the feet in front either side of the phallus, the elbows resting on the knees and the hands clasped in front of the chest, with the hair in archaic ringlets, brown spots painted on the stomach and pubic region, two holes for suspension on either side of the neck, 9.2cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
With ArtePrimitivo, New York, 29 September 2014, lot 357.
American private collection, New York, 1950s-1970s.

Literature:
It is thought that such 'plastic vases' depict actors in the guise of a Comast. Comasts were the participants of the Ancient Greek 'Komos', a ritualistic drunken procession. Scenes of such revelry were often depicted in Athenian vase painting. For similar examples in the British Museum, cf. R. Higgins, Catalogue of the Terracottas in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, vol. II, pp. 26-7, figs 1665-7.

Additional information

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