Large Apulian Bell-Krater with a Dionysian Scene

Culture: Greek/Apulian

Period: 340-320 B.C.

Material: Terracotta

Dimensions: 47.5 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 2299

Provenance: French private collection Jean-Alain Mariaud de Serres (1920-1999). Auctioned by Francois de Ricqles, Drouot-Montaigne, Paris on 1 October 2000, lot 819, where it was acquired by Dr. Stan V. Smith, Chicago, USA. Since then in a family estate.

Condition: Reassembled from large fragments without any missing parts.

Description: Large bell-krater for mixing wine and water. On the front the youthful Dionysus, nude, only with a himation thrown over his arms. He holds a tyhrsus (a staff, the attribute for Dionysus and his maenad) and presenting a patera to the maenad, who is seated on a rock in front of him. Above a phiale and a fillet. Between the figures a branch. The maenad wears a finely worked out floor-long sheath, a necklace and a stephane in her hair. She presents with her right hand a flower wreath to the youthful god, in her left she also holds a thyrsus. On the other side two youth facing each other with a staff and a himation around the shoulders. Between them a column. The scenes are framed by a meander border at the bottom. Below the handles richly ornamented palmettes. A band of laurel below the rim.