Gnathian Polychrome Trefoil Oinochoe w/ Vegetal Motifs

Magna Graecia, southern Italy, near present day Ignazia, ca. 340 to 320 BCE. An attractive blackware pottery pitcher with a ring-form foot, an egg-shaped body, a narrow neck, and a trefoil spout decorated via the Gnathian technique with fugitive red, white, and yellow pigments atop a black glaze - depicting an elaborate grapevine pattern along the shoulder, just below several horizontal bands of zigzag, undulating, and incised striations that adorn the vessel's neck. Contributing further to its beautiful decorative program is the silvery iridescence that the black glaze has attained over the ages. Size: 3.75" in diameter x 6.2" H (9.5 cm x 15.7 cm)

Gnathia ware is named for the site where it was first discovered - the Apulian site of Egnathia. The black glaze ware is traditionally decorated with floral motifs in red, white, or yellow hues. Scholars believe that its production most likely was centered around Taras, with primary workshops in Egnathia and Canosa. The quantity and quality of Greek colonial Apulian potters increased significantly following the Peloponnesian War when Attic exports dramatically decreased. Apulian artistry demonstrates influences of Ionian (Athenian, Attic) conventions, as well as Doric (western colonial Greek) styles, with a palpable native Italian aesthetic.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private T.G. collection, Williston, Florida, USA, acquired in 2000

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#166954
Condition Report: Repair to rim and handle with restoration over break lines. Some light nicks and abrasions, commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with nice remaining pigments and beautiful iridescence.