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Lot Essay
The prolific Athenian vase-painter Makron, together with his contemporaries Douris, Onesimos and the Brygos Painter, are considered the finest artists of the their generation. He mostly painted elegant cups, typically type B kylikes, but also on occasion other forms, such as skyphoi. His signature is only preserved on a single vase, a skyphos now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He collaborated almost exclusively with the potter Hieron, whose signature (Hieron Epoiesen, or “Hieron made me”) is found on nearly one tenth of the more than 350 vases attributed to Makron, including on the cup presented here. As Boardman informs (Athenian Red Figure Vases, The Archaic Period, p. 140), most of Makron’s vases “carry groups of men, women and youths, dancing or passing the time of day together with a number of the usual Dionysiac, symposion and athlete subjects.”
Within the tondo of this splendid cup sits a bearded male, a himation draped around his waist, holding a knobby stick in his left hand. Before him stands a nude serving boy proffering a platter of fruit in his right hand and holding a lamb shank in his left. Each wears a wreath in added red. The scene is framed by a band of meander. The symposion continues on either side of the exterior, where three bearded men each recline against pillows on a kline. The dining portion of the festivities has concluded, as their tables have been cleared but for leafy sprays that drape over their sides. At the center of one side, a reveler is playing the drinking game kottabos, his kylix raised in order to fling the dregs at a target. The figure to the right plays the double flute, its case hanging to the left, while the figure to the left cradles his cup by the foot and gesticulates with his raised right arm, a basket hanging to his right. On the other side, the central figure is only partially preserved; a lyre hangs before him. The figure to the right holds a cup in his left hand and reaches towards a basket hanging in front of him. The figure to the left, his head facing frontally, holds a cup in each hand, that in his right precariously balanced on his outstretched palm. Beneath one handle sits an exhausted serving boy, his head tipping onto one shoulder. Under the other handle is a large calyx-krater festooned with ivy. Hieron’s signature runs along the inner edge of the handle above.
Within the tondo of this splendid cup sits a bearded male, a himation draped around his waist, holding a knobby stick in his left hand. Before him stands a nude serving boy proffering a platter of fruit in his right hand and holding a lamb shank in his left. Each wears a wreath in added red. The scene is framed by a band of meander. The symposion continues on either side of the exterior, where three bearded men each recline against pillows on a kline. The dining portion of the festivities has concluded, as their tables have been cleared but for leafy sprays that drape over their sides. At the center of one side, a reveler is playing the drinking game kottabos, his kylix raised in order to fling the dregs at a target. The figure to the right plays the double flute, its case hanging to the left, while the figure to the left cradles his cup by the foot and gesticulates with his raised right arm, a basket hanging to his right. On the other side, the central figure is only partially preserved; a lyre hangs before him. The figure to the right holds a cup in his left hand and reaches towards a basket hanging in front of him. The figure to the left, his head facing frontally, holds a cup in each hand, that in his right precariously balanced on his outstretched palm. Beneath one handle sits an exhausted serving boy, his head tipping onto one shoulder. Under the other handle is a large calyx-krater festooned with ivy. Hieron’s signature runs along the inner edge of the handle above.