CIRCA 480 B.C.

Details

AN ATTIC RED-FIGURE OINOCHOE, BY THE TRIPTOLEMOS PAINTER
CIRCA 480 B.C.
Finely potted and painted, the lip in two degrees decorated with ovolo frieze above, confronting meander and crosses below, with tooled groove within the rim and raised ring on the underside at the junction with the neck, the shoulder with horizontal band of ovolo forming the ground-line on which stands the figure of a lyre-player, painted in frontal pose, his bearded head turned towards his right shoulder and shown in profile, he wears a vine wreath in his hair and a long himation which is draped over his left shoulder leaving his upper right chest exposed, he holds a knobbled staff in his left hand and a lyre, from which hangs the plectrum, in his outstretched right hand; under the handle (missing) on the back of the neck the decorative motif is composed of four enclosed interlinked palmettes with spiral tendrils and two lateral lotus buds, a palmette at the base of the handle
11½ in. (29 cm.) high

Provenance

Property from the Collection of the Princely House of Liechtenstein; acquired by Prince Johann II (1858-1929) in the late 19th Century.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis. Please note that the lots of Iranian origin are subject to U.S. trade restrictions which currently prohibit the import into the United States. Similar restrictions may apply in other countries. This lot will be removed to an off-site warehouse at the close of business on the day of sale - 2 weeks free storage

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Lot Essay

PUBLISHED:
Katalog der Archäologischen Ausstellung (22 Mai-31 August 1893), Wien, 1893, no. 1023.
J. D. Beazley, Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters, Oxford, 1963, p. 363, no. 25.

The Triptolemos Painter was active in Athens from the 480s to the 470s B.C., painting alongside such great Archaic artists as the Kleophrades and Berlin Painters who were working during the first quarter of the 5th Century B.C.; painting and potting link his work with Douris. Prof. Sir John Boardman describes him as accomplished and versatile, and Beazley admired his 'accomplished, strong, pure' expression of Late Archaic art.

The Triptolemos Painter, who takes his name from a vase depicting the departure of Triptolemos, started his career as a cup-painter but turned his hand to a variety of vase shapes. The above vase is highly unusual in shape (the only one under his name listed by Beazley), its fine contours and tooling clearly recalling a metal vase shape. The angled lip, with its two zones of decoration, is perhaps unique. The decoration is exquisitely executed, from the friezes adorning the lip to the elegant florals which recall the Berlin Painter's work.

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