CIRCA MID 5TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

AN ATTIC RED-FIGURED PELIKE
CIRCA MID 5TH CENTURY B.C.
6 ½ (16.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Elsa Bloch-Diener collection, Bern, acquired prior to 1996.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Pelikes were principally used for storing liquids such as oil and wine, which the depiction on one side of this jar suggests. The scene shows a youth holding a wine strainer below a dripping wineskin, holding an aryballos in his hand and overlooked by a draped figure. Sieves or strainers through which to pour wine were a standard feature of the symposium as the wine had often not been subjected to filtration since fermentation. The reverse of the vase shows a bull in profile to the right with a column of Doric order, perhaps suggesting that the pelike was used as part of a dedication.

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