Ancient Greek Pottery Red figured large skyphos. TL test. Very refined. - (1)

Important red figured skyphos. CULTURE: Apulian, Magna Graecia PERIOD: Circa 340-320 BC MATERIAL: Pottery DIMENSIONS: Height 25cm H. , 33,5 cm handle to handle. PROVENANCE: Private French collection, ex. David Ghezelbash, Paris. CONDITION: Repaired from it's original fragments, no new parts, original painting is well preserved. DOCUMENTS: With thermoluminescence test, Certificate of Authenticity and export license issued by the Ministry of Culture. DESCRIPTION: An Apulian red-figured skyphos. One side with a standing nude youth facing left, a mantle draped over his left arm, a branch in his left hand, a flaming torch in his right hand, rosettes, and an altar on the floor, a band of wave below the scenes, palmette complexes under the handles. Other side with a woman, dressed on chiton, holding a fan and a brunch of grapes. Unusually large and refined example. This example is from Apulia in the south of Italy mostly coincident with the modern province of Foggia and Mesapia to the south. From 320 BC Athens stopped exporting ceramics and only produced some vessels that were given as prizes to athletes in the Panathenaic Festivals. The ceramic produced by the Greek colonies in the Italian peninsula took the place of the Athenian ware in the Mediterranean market. Unusually large and refined piece. Red-figure pottery was one of the most important figurative styles of Greek production. It developed in Athens around 530 BC and was used until the 3rd Century AD. In the space of a few decades it took over the place of the previous dominant style of black-figure pottery. The technical base was the same in both cases but in red-figure pottery the colouring is reversed so that the figures stand out on a dark background as if they were lit up in a more natural way. The painters who did black-figure work were forced to keep the motifs they painted well apart one from the other and to limit their complexity. In contrast, the red-figure technique gave much greater liberty. Each figure was silhouetted against a black background, allowing the painters to portray anatomical details with greater accuracy and variety. The technique consisted of painting the motifs on the vessels while they were still unfired using a transparent slip, which when fired took on a black coloration. In this manner the motifs were invisible before firing so that the painters had to work from memory without seeing their earlier work. Once the piece had been fired the zones which had not been covered by the slip retained the red colouring of the clay while the glossy areas, those that had been “painted, acquired a dense, brilliant black colour. A skyphos (Ancient Greek: σκύφος; plural skyphoi) is a two-handled deep wine-cup on a low flanged base or none. The handles may be horizontal ear-shaped thumbholds that project from the rim (in both Corinthian and Athenian shapes) , or they may be loop handles at the rim or that stand away from the lower part of the body. Skyphoi of the type called glaux (owl) have one horizontal and one vertical thumbhold hand. BIBLIOGRAPHY: - MAYO, M. ed. The Art of South Italy, Vases from Magna Graecia. Richmond. 1982. - TRENDALL, A. D. Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily. London, 1989. - TRENDALL, A. D. , CAMBITOGLOU, A. First Supplement to the Red-Figured Vases of Apulia. London, 1983. Notes: The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki. The seller will take care that any necessary permits, like an export license will be arranged, he will inform the buyer about the status of it if this takes more than a few days. The piece includes authenticity certificate. The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union) - If the piece is destined outside the European Union a substitution of the export permit should be requested.