Attic black figure lekythos with charioteer and Athena – Haimon painter

 

Culture

Greek, Attic, c. 490 – 475 B.C.


Size

19,5 cm


Provenance

Dutch collection. Ex Gorny & Mosch, with German export license. 

Ex private collection G.S. Niedersachsen, Germany. since 1966 in family collection. 


Description

Cylindrical lekythos with an echinus mouth, a narrow neck, a vertical strap handle from neck to
shoulder, a tapering body and a disc foot. The clay is orange and fine. The black glaze is worn
and has fired unevenly, with large areas of brown and grey misfiring on the body and the foot;

there are chips to the mouth and losses to the painted surface, and incrustations remain in places.
 

The mouth and the foot are glazed black. On the shoulder is a frieze of black tongues above a
band of short rays, and below it, at the top of the body, a band of key pattern. The figured frieze
occupies the upper half of the body, and beneath it run two encircling lines; the lower body is

reserved.
 

The frieze shows a Gigantomachy, drawn in black glaze with incised detail and traces of added
red. Athena, wearing a crested helmet and a long chiton whose folds are rendered with fine
vertical incisions, urges on a charioteer who drives to the right; before them are the horses of the

team, drawn as a compact black mass with the reins incised across it.
  

Black-figure pottery is one of the most iconic styles of ancient Greek vase painting, and it played a central role in Greek art from roughly the 7th to the early 5th century BCE. Black-figure pottery is a technique where figures and motifs are painted in a slip that turns black during firing, while the background remains the natural red color of the clay.  Details were incised into the black slip with a sharp tool, allowing the red clay beneath to show through, creating fine lines for anatomy, clothing folds, or decorative patterns. Additional colors like white and red could also be added for details (e.g., for women’s skin, clothing, or decorative elements). It was used on almost all vase types: amphorae, kraters, kylixes (drinking cups), lekythoi (oil flasks), and aryballoi (small perfume bottles).


Positive Thermoluminescence-test with samples of the body and shoulder.


Attributed to the Haimon painter. Verified by an archaeologist specialised in the field. Detailed report included. 


Condition

Good condition, body reassembled and restored.


Price

€ 2350