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Property from a Princely Collection (Lots 103-136)
Lot 110

An Attic black-glazed pottery head vase in the form of a Black African

22 November – 9 December 2024, 12:00 GMT
Online, London, New Bond Street

Sold for £1,792 inc. premium

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An Attic black-glazed pottery head vase in the form of a Black African

Circa 510-480 B.C.
the handle, neck and mouth of the vessel restored, 16cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
Anonymous sale; Fischer, Luzern, Auktion 404, 10-15 June 2009, lot 3886 (part).
with Rhea Gallery, Zurich.
Property from a Princely Collection, acquired from the above.
Accompanied by a thermoluminescence test from Oxford Authentication Ltd, dated 2 April 2024.

Attic head vases became popular in the 5th Century B.C. The vast majority of the known examples depict female heads; black Africans, such as the above lot, are much rarer survivals. There are oinochoae of the same subject as the above lot in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. no. 00.11.1 and the Getty Museum, Los Angeles, no. 83.AE.229. As extensive traders, the Greeks came across Africans over many centuries and they are mentioned from Homer's Iliad through to Herodotus' Histories.

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