A GREEK POTTERY GUTTUS

APULIA, CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GREEK POTTERY GUTTUS
apulia, circa 4th century b.c.
Molded in the form of a comedic mask of Herakles wearing the Nemean lion skin, with a black beard framing his toothy open mouth, the flesh painted red with tiny white highlights, the flattened nose enhanced with a white vertical stripe, the bulging eyes with black in their centers, white dots to either side, and framed by a black ring, the lion skin in white with orange and brown details, with a vertical ring handle attached to the left side, and a nozzle projecting from the back of the head
4 in. (10.2 cm) long

Provenance

Signorelli Collection

Lot Essay

Comedic parodies were common subjects on the so-called phlyax vases of Magna Graecia. The present askos is a rare three dimensional and well preserved rendering of the masks seen on these vases. Compare for example the scene of Herakles at the Temple of Olympian Zeus on a bell-krater by the Iris Painter, no. 5/260 in Trendall and Cambitoglou, The Red-Figured Vases of Apulia.

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