CIRCA 540-530 B.C.

Details

AN ATTIC BLACK-FIGURED BAND-CUP
CIRCA 540-530 B.C.
8 3/8 in. (21.2 cm.) diameter, excluding handles

Provenance

with Galerie Günter Puhze, Freiburg (Kunst der Antike, Katalog 1, 1979, no. 54; Katalog 3, 1981, no. 137).
Antiquities, Sotheby's, London, 9-10 July 1984, lot 203.

Literature

A. Dierichs, "Erotik in Der Kunst Griechenlands," Antike Welt 19 (Sondernummer), 1988, p. 43, Abb. 62.
P. Heesen, Athenian Little-Master Cups, Amsterdam, 2011, p. 107, n. 639.
Beazley Archive Pottery Database no. 6615.

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

As Johns informs (pp. 117-120 in Sex or Symbol? Erotic Images of Greece and Rome), erotic scenes feature most prominently on drinking vessels and are connected to the symposia. While the invited guests were all male, female consorts (hetairai) and dancers provided entertainment and sexual services for the men. It is therefore not surprising that such scenes appear on vases that were used in this context. Here, each side is centered by a copulating couple. One side features two masturbating onlookers while the other side depicts one similar spectator; cranes and panthers fill the remaining space.

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