ATTRIBUTED TO THE LEAGROS GROUP, CIRCA 520-500 B.C.

Details

AN ATTIC BLACK-FIGURED NECK-AMPHORA
ATTRIBUTED TO THE LEAGROS GROUP, CIRCA 520-500 B.C.
17 in. (43.1 cm.) high

Provenance

with Holger Termer, Hamburg, 1980 (Kunst der Antike, vol. 2, no. 5).
Dr. Manfred Zimmermann (1935-2011), Bremen, Germany, acquired by 1986; thence by descent to the current owner.

Literature

W. Hornbostel, Aus der Glanzzeit Athens: Meisterwerke griechischer Vasenkunst in Privatbesitz, Hamburg, 1986, pp. 58-59, no. 20.
J. Burow, Der Antimenesmaler, Mainz, 1989, p. 104, no. XIX.
M. Steinhart, Töpferkunst und Meisterzeichnung: Attische Wein- und Ölgefässe aus der Sammlung Zimmermann, Mainz, 1996, pp. 66-69, no. 12, pl. 7.
W.J. Slater and M. Steinhart, "Phineus as Monoposiast," Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 117, 1997, pp. 206-207, pl. 8A.
B. Scholz, "Die Tradition bürgerlicher Bremmer Antikensammler," in H. Kloft, ed., Bremen-Griechenland: Stationen und Aspekte einer Partnerschaft, Bremen, 2002, pp. 85-86.
E. Grabow, "Antike Bildergeschichten in Bremen: Einblick in Alltag und Glaubensvorstellungen der griechischen Antike gewährt die Sammlung Zimmermann in Bremens Kulturmeile," Antike Welt, vol. 40, no. 2, 2009, p. 81, fig. 3.
F. Hildebrandt, Antike Bilderwelten: Was griechische Vasen erzählen, Darmstadt, 2017, pp. 64-65, 135, figs. 61, 134; p. 144, no. 8.
Beazley Archive Pottery Database no. 5723.

Exhibited

Hamburg, BATIG Foyer Esplanade; Kiel, Landesbank Schleswig-Holstein Girozentrale; Bremen, Übersee-Museum, Aus der Glanzzeit Athens: Meisterwerke griechischer Vasenkunst in Privatbesitz, 29 May 1986-18 January 1987.
Bremen, Antikenmuseum im Schnoor, 2005-2018.
Hamburg, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, 2018-2023.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

On one side of this amphora, a youthful nude Herakles wrestles the Nemean lion. The hero is down on one knee with his right arm wrapped tightly around the beast's neck. Standing to the left, looking on, is his companion Iolaos, depicted bearded, wearing a short chiton, with a sword suspended by a baldric over his right shoulder, and holding the hero’s club. Standing to the right is his patron goddess Athena, wearing a peplos, aegis, and high-crested helmet, holding a spear in her right hand and a circular shield in her left. Between them is a tree from which a quiver and bow are suspended. On the other side, a bearded symposiast reclines, wearing a himation and a crown of ivy. To the left stands a draped woman, and to the right, a nude youth approaches, his right arm bent back behind his head. Below a table piled with meat, a dog feasts on scraps. A band of lotus bud chain encircles below, with red and black tongues above, rays above the foot, palmette and lotus chain on the neck, and palmettes and lotus buds below the handles.

This vase was previously attributed to the Antimenes Painter, but that was rejected by Burow (op. cit.); later scholars correctly assigned this to the Leagros Group.

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