AN ATTIC RED-FIGURED KYLIX

ATTRIBUTED TO THE HERMAIOS PAINTER CIRCA 510-500 B.C.

Details

AN ATTIC RED-FIGURED KYLIX
attributed to the hermaios painter
circa 510-500 b.c.
The tondo with a nude young woman, likely a hetaira, wearing a sakkos in her hair and disk-shaped earrings, holding a large olisbos (a dildo) in her right hand which is secured to her wrist by a red cord, and reaching towards its tip with her left hand, enclosed within a reserved band
7 9/16 in. (19.2 cm) diameter

Literature

Guy in Leipen, et al., Glimpses of Excellence, A Selection of Greek Vases and Bronzes from the Elie Borowski Collection, no. 9.

Exhibited

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 18 December 1984 to 30 June 1985

Lot Essay

According to Johns (Sex or Symbol?, Erotic Images of Greece and Rome, p. 91) scenes of women wielding large olisboi do not likely depict woman masturbating, but rather, some type of entertainment that the hetairai perform for men.

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