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Lot Essay
PUBLISHED:
K. Schefold, Meisterwerke griechischer Kunst, Basel, 1960, p. 65ff., no. 270.
Schefold writes that this statuette is unique in representing a figure in this pose holding both wine-skin and amphora; such representations are found only in Greek vase painting. The harmony of the composition is particularly notable. The statuette is votive and combines elements of Dionysiac festivals and the death cult of Hades, both divinities being interchangeable in many rites. Schefold discusses the festival celebrated in Athens for the new wine produced at the end of February-March, the Anthesterion, dedicated to Dionysos. It was common to the Ionic region, had originated as a death cult, become associated with Dionysos and thus spread to many wine-producing regions such as Magna Graecia.
K. Schefold, Meisterwerke griechischer Kunst, Basel, 1960, p. 65ff., no. 270.
Schefold writes that this statuette is unique in representing a figure in this pose holding both wine-skin and amphora; such representations are found only in Greek vase painting. The harmony of the composition is particularly notable. The statuette is votive and combines elements of Dionysiac festivals and the death cult of Hades, both divinities being interchangeable in many rites. Schefold discusses the festival celebrated in Athens for the new wine produced at the end of February-March, the Anthesterion, dedicated to Dionysos. It was common to the Ionic region, had originated as a death cult, become associated with Dionysos and thus spread to many wine-producing regions such as Magna Graecia.