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Lot Essay
This magnificent amphora is a highlight of the Zimmermann Collection and a testament to the long history of collecting ancient Greek vases. It was first recorded in the Pizzati Collection, of Florence, in a drawing by E. Gerhard in 1843 (op. cit.). Shortly thereafter, it entered the collection of Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton (1790-1851), whose collection of Greek vases, as J.D. Beazley remarked (op. cit., 1929, p. 1), formed “the richest private collection in Great Britain and one of the richest in the world.”
On the obverse stands Herakles between Iolaos and Athena. The hero is shown wearing a short chiton and his characteristic lionskin over his head and shoulders, knotted at his chest, and draped over his left arm. In his right hand he holds his club, which leans up against his hip, and in his left hand, he wields a Scythian bow and two arrows. He looks right toward Athena, who wears a crested helmet, a long peplos, and a snake-fringed scaly aegis adorned with a gorgoneion. Her right foot is perched on a rock. She rests her right elbow on her raised knee and supports her chin on her fisted hand. In her left hand she holds a spear against her shoulder. To the left is Herakles’ companion, Iolaos, dressed in a short chiton, a chlamys fastened at his shoulder, a petasos and striped boots; he holds two spears in his left hand.
On the reverse is a bearded male figure, perhaps Zeus or a king, between two men. The central bearded figure stands frontally but looks to his left, holding a striped scepter in his left hand and resting his right hand on his hip. He wears a fillet in his hair and a himation draped over his right shoulder and brought up over his left arm. To the left is another bearded figure wearing a himation, leaning on a stick and raising his right hand; to the right is a similar figure, shown from behind, who rests his right hand on his hip. A band of ovolo encircles below, and a band of tongues adorn the shoulders. Each side of the neck is adorned with a pair of palmettes.
When Beazley first published this amphora in 1918 (op. cit.) he attributed it to the Nausicaa Painter. In 1925, in Attische Vasenmaler des rotfiguren Stils (op. cit.), he further remarked that it was closely related to the work of the Oinanthe Painter, bridging the gap between the name-pieces of that artist (a hydria in the British Museum, inv. no. 1837,0609.54) and of the Nausicaa Painter (a neck-amphora in the Antikensammlungen in Munich, inv. no. 2322). In his “Notes on the Vases in Castle Ashby” (op. cit.), however, Beazley equivocated, noting, “I should now be inclined to assign the Castle Ashby vase to the Oinanthe painter. I still think it possible that he and the Nausicaa painter are the same; that the Nausicaa vase and what goes with it are the late works of the Oinanthe painter.” The matter was settled by 1942, when, in Attic Red-Figured Vase-Painters (op. cit.), he firmly attributed the amphora to the Nausicaa Painter and considered it an early work of the artist. The attribution has not been questioned since that publication.
Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton, was, as described by J. Boardman in his introduction to the Christie’s sale catalogue of the Castle Ashby vases, “a scholar of some range–a Cambridge graduate, President of the Geological Society and of the Royal Society, Trustee of the British Museum and the National Gallery, and a Member of Parliament.” The Marquess first began collecting vases in Italy in the 1820s. As Boardman remarks, “His eye for a good vase is demonstrated by the exceptionally high average quality of his collection, not easily rivalled.” Highlights from the collection at Castle Ashby included a red-figured plate with a youth riding a cock, signed by Epiketos (now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 1981.11.10); a black-figured neck-amphora with Dionysos and satyrs, attributed to Psiax and signed by Andokides as potter (now at the British Museum, inv. no. 1980,1029.1); and the “Northampton Vase,” an ornately-decorated neck-amphora thought to have been made by an Ionian artist working in South Italy (now in a private collection).
On the obverse stands Herakles between Iolaos and Athena. The hero is shown wearing a short chiton and his characteristic lionskin over his head and shoulders, knotted at his chest, and draped over his left arm. In his right hand he holds his club, which leans up against his hip, and in his left hand, he wields a Scythian bow and two arrows. He looks right toward Athena, who wears a crested helmet, a long peplos, and a snake-fringed scaly aegis adorned with a gorgoneion. Her right foot is perched on a rock. She rests her right elbow on her raised knee and supports her chin on her fisted hand. In her left hand she holds a spear against her shoulder. To the left is Herakles’ companion, Iolaos, dressed in a short chiton, a chlamys fastened at his shoulder, a petasos and striped boots; he holds two spears in his left hand.
On the reverse is a bearded male figure, perhaps Zeus or a king, between two men. The central bearded figure stands frontally but looks to his left, holding a striped scepter in his left hand and resting his right hand on his hip. He wears a fillet in his hair and a himation draped over his right shoulder and brought up over his left arm. To the left is another bearded figure wearing a himation, leaning on a stick and raising his right hand; to the right is a similar figure, shown from behind, who rests his right hand on his hip. A band of ovolo encircles below, and a band of tongues adorn the shoulders. Each side of the neck is adorned with a pair of palmettes.
When Beazley first published this amphora in 1918 (op. cit.) he attributed it to the Nausicaa Painter. In 1925, in Attische Vasenmaler des rotfiguren Stils (op. cit.), he further remarked that it was closely related to the work of the Oinanthe Painter, bridging the gap between the name-pieces of that artist (a hydria in the British Museum, inv. no. 1837,0609.54) and of the Nausicaa Painter (a neck-amphora in the Antikensammlungen in Munich, inv. no. 2322). In his “Notes on the Vases in Castle Ashby” (op. cit.), however, Beazley equivocated, noting, “I should now be inclined to assign the Castle Ashby vase to the Oinanthe painter. I still think it possible that he and the Nausicaa painter are the same; that the Nausicaa vase and what goes with it are the late works of the Oinanthe painter.” The matter was settled by 1942, when, in Attic Red-Figured Vase-Painters (op. cit.), he firmly attributed the amphora to the Nausicaa Painter and considered it an early work of the artist. The attribution has not been questioned since that publication.
Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton, was, as described by J. Boardman in his introduction to the Christie’s sale catalogue of the Castle Ashby vases, “a scholar of some range–a Cambridge graduate, President of the Geological Society and of the Royal Society, Trustee of the British Museum and the National Gallery, and a Member of Parliament.” The Marquess first began collecting vases in Italy in the 1820s. As Boardman remarks, “His eye for a good vase is demonstrated by the exceptionally high average quality of his collection, not easily rivalled.” Highlights from the collection at Castle Ashby included a red-figured plate with a youth riding a cock, signed by Epiketos (now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 1981.11.10); a black-figured neck-amphora with Dionysos and satyrs, attributed to Psiax and signed by Andokides as potter (now at the British Museum, inv. no. 1980,1029.1); and the “Northampton Vase,” an ornately-decorated neck-amphora thought to have been made by an Ionian artist working in South Italy (now in a private collection).