Greek Boeotian Black Glazed Kantharos - Ivy Motif

Ancient Greece, Boeotia, ca. 450 to 425 BCE. A large Boeotian Greek black glazed kantharos (wine cup) with high attenuated twin handles and a high stemmed foot. The body is decorated with fugitive (added) white pigment to render a beautiful ivy garland embellished with trios of dots to represent berries as well as a band of zigzag geometric motifs below. Nice incised markings accentuate the sinuous vines. Lovely hints of iridescence to the black glaze throughout. Size: 8.25" W handlespan x 9.75" H (21 cm x 24.8 cm)

The Etruscans in Italy produced bucchero kantharoi in the late 7th or early 6th century BCE and the shape was later adopted by Boeotian potters. The kantharos is a cup used to hold wine, possibly for drinking or for ritual use or offerings. The kantharos was also an attribute of Dionysus (Roman Bacchus), the god of wine who is oftentimes depicted holding this type of vessel. Satyrs, bestial goat-men associated with Dionysus, and Maenads, women who joined in the revelry of Dionysian festivals, were also commonly portrayed on painted pottery holding a kantharos.

A similar example may be found in the Louvre Museum, inv. no. MNC 670, bearing a dedication in the Boeotian alphabet, from Thespiae.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-La Reine Margot, Paris, France, acquired in the 1990s

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#152841 Dimensions: Condition Report: Professionally repaired from multiple pieces with restoration over the break lines. Possible touch up to added white pigment. Beautiful areas of silvery iridescence to areas of the black glaze