Greek Apulian / Canosan Ceramic Patera with Swan

Magna Graecia, Apulia, Canosan Hellenistic Period, ca. late 4th to 3rd century BCE. Quite sizeable and elegantly decorated, a beautifully preserved patera (phiale), a shallow bowl for libations. A graceful swan adorns the tondo - portrayed here as if floating on water though poised to take flight at any given moment, with its wings partially raised, its neck dipped in a tight curve and its broad feet tucked beneath it. The vessel is supported by an attractive tiered pedestal base. Twin handles flanked by spool-shaped knobs rise from the broad, flat rim. A vessel like this example was created especially for funerary purposes. Size: 15.25" W x 5.75" H (38.7 cm x 14.6 cm)

The iconography of this patera gives us an insight into popular religious beliefs in Magna Graecia. The swan played a complex role in Greek mythology - as the attribute of Aphrodite and Apollo, said to sing a song of unearthly beauty as it died, and as the form assumed by Zeus to ravish Leda, mother of Helen of Troy.

Canosa, or Canosion as it was known then, was a major center of the ceramics and pottery trade when it was a Greek polis. The Canosans created truly unique pottery, completely different in decoration style (though similar in form) from earlier and neighboring traditions. The clay body of Canosan pottery is buff, the decoration applied directly to it without the use of slip. The entire body was covered with white slip, with a second ground of pink color applied over the background where designs have not been drawn.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Artemis Gallery; ex-private New Jersey, USA collection; ex-private Connecticut, USA collection, acquired in the 1980s

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#149752
Condition Report: One knob is missing and handles likely reattached. Expected surface wear commensurate with age with normal pigment wear/loss, but most of the decorative program remains strong with well-preserved motifs. Liberal deposits grace the surface.