Gnathia Lekythos Attributed to the “Painter of the Louvre Bottle”

Culture: Greek/Gnathia

Period: 340-325 B.C.

Material: Terracotta

Dimensions: 19.3 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 2555

Provenance: Viennese private collection Ernst Degasperi (1927-2011), acquired in the 1960s to 1970s. Since then in the family estate.

Condition: The spout is reattached, otherwise wonderfully preserved.

Description: Finely worked out lekythos with paint in white, red and yellow. The image area depicts a painted woman’s portrait in high quality between two wings. The woman, possibly the goddess Nike is depicted in three-quarter view, her head slightly raised and facing to the left. Her blond hair is thick and untamed, on the sides two long strands cascade to the shoulders, the ends rolled in. Her gaze is melancholic, the mouth closed. The woman wears a necklace. The wonderful portrait originates from the “Painter of the Louvre Bottle”. The reference vase in the Louvre with the collection number Cp3427 also depicts Nike in three-quarter view. Her hair is slightly tousled, eye area and necklace are almost identical. The wings on the present lekythos are red with plumes applied in thick opaque white. They possibly originate from the “Painter from Lecce 1075” who was the teacher of the “Painter of the Louvre Bottle”. See as reference the lekythos in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg with the inventory number 1917.1044, which also is a collaborative work of both masters. The wings on the Hamburg vase are, like on the present lekythos red with white dots, the plumes fade into white-yellow, typical for the “Painter from Lecce 1075”. Except from the woman’s portrait the lekythos is abundantly decorated, the neck with ray décor, the shoulder with tongues and wavy band, below dots. The end of the image area is formed by tongues with dotted decoration. Below the wings white yellow tendrils. The lekythos has a horizontal, far protruding rim. The ring foot is finely profiled.