ATTRIBUTED TO THE POTHOS PAINTER, CIRCA 430-420 B.C.

Details

AN ATTIC RED-FIGURED BELL-KRATER
ATTRIBUTED TO THE POTHOS PAINTER, CIRCA 430-420 B.C.
The obverse with a sacrificial scene, in the centre a presiding draped youth with right arm raised, standing beside an altar with lit fire, to his right a young assistant holding a piglet, a flute player (auletes) behind, to the right an assistant approaching the altar, carrying a laden tray and a vessel in his right hand, a youth holding a laurel branch behind, all wearing wreaths in their hair; reverse with three draped youths, one holding a staff; a band of meander and chequerboard squares below the scenes, scrolling palmettes under the handles, band of laurel below the rim
12½ in. (31.8 cm.) high

Provenance

with W. Rosenbaum, Galleria Serodine, Ascona, Switzerland, 1970s.
Private collection, Switzerland.

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Lot Essay

The objects the attendant to the right holds are most probably a tray for the sacrificial knife covered by a cloth and a bronze vessel for water to be sprinkled on the face of the piglet. The inclusion of a laurel branch in the scene may indicate that this sacrifice takes place in a sanctuary of Apollo.

The Pothos Painter depicted sacrificial scenes on several kraters including one in the Louvre (G496), the British Museum (E504) and the Antikenmuseum in Basel. For the example in the British Museum cf. D. Williams, Greek Vases, London, 1985, p. 109.

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