A GREEK BRONZE OLPE

CLASSICAL PERIOD, CIRCA EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GREEK BRONZE OLPE
CLASSICAL PERIOD, CIRCA EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.
The piriform vessel cast, on a flat base, the overhanging rim with a band of tongues below beading, the separately-cast vertical handle with a broad grip, ornamented by a central rib bifurcating near the top and terminating in volutes framing a central palmette and a spool-shaped thumb-rest, with half-palmettes to the sides, full palmettes extending horizontally along the rim, the base of the handle with a large figure of a goddess, perhaps Nike or Iris, moving to the right, her sickle-shaped wings with layered, articulated feathers, her legs in profile in the knielauf position with the right knee down, her body frontal with her head turned slightly to her left, wearing winged boots (one preserved) and a himation over a crinkly short-sleeved chiton, her arms extending out to the sides with the elbows bent acutely, gripping the edges of her chiton in her left hand and once holding an attribute in her right, a crescentic diadem in her center-parted hair
12¾ in. (32.3 cm.) high

Provenance

Swiss Art Market, mid 1990s.
Acquired by the current owner in London, 2001.

Lot Essay

For a vessel handle of similar date with related foliate ornament see no. 19 in True, et al., A Passion for Antiquities, who suggests that such vessels have been "associated with the workshops of Ionia on the coast of Asia Minor."

More from Antiquities

View All