CIRCA 540 B.C.

Details

AN ATTIC BLACK-FIGURED LIP-CUP
CIRCA 540 B.C.
8 5/8 in. (21.9 cm.) diameter

Provenance

Private Collection, Switzerland, 1975 or earlier.
with N. Koutoulakis (1910-1996), Geneva.
Acquired by the current owner from the above, 1987.

Literature

J. Dörig, Art Antique: Collections Privées de Suisse Romande, Geneva, 1975, no. 160.
K. Vierneisel and B. Kaeser, Kunst der Schale, Munich, 1990, pp. 86 and 479, fig. 10.10.
P. Heesen, Athenian Little-Master Cups, Amsterdam, 2011, p. 109, n. 650.
Beazley Archive Pottery Database no. 777.

Lot Essay

The lip-cup was one of the favorite shapes for the Little Masters, who specialized in detailed miniature decoration. One variant features a human bust in the center of each side drawn in outline style rather than in the pure black figure technique. Most have a profile female head on each side, often with details in added red. The bearded male on one side of the cup presented here is unusual. For a related cup in Berlin painted by Sakonides see no. 42 in B. Cohen, The Colors of Clay, Special Techniques in Athenian Vases.

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