Sicilian Miniature Red-Figure Fish Plate

Culture: Greek/Sicilian

Period: First half 4th century B.C.

Material: Terracotta

Dimensions: 13 cm in diameter

Price: Sold

Ref: 2516

Provenance: English private collection, thence with Charles Ede in London in February 2000. There acquired by Jerome Eisenberg, New York for his private collection. 2019 with Royal Athena in New York. There acquired by a New Yorker collector. Exhibited: The New York International Antiquarian Fine Art Fair, New York, November 2001.

Condition: Professionally reassembled from five pieces.

Description: Small, but important fish plate from a Sicilian workshop with very high-quality, red-figured paint with details in opaque white. The plate stands on a low foot ring. The wall is slightly curved outwards and decorated with a wavy band to the right. The rounded passage to the wall, typical for the early Sicilian fish plates, is decorated with an irregularly dotted décor, which references to the attic models. The black grounded image area is decorated with four finely painted, counterclockwise aligned fish. A nile perch and a striped perch are facing each other. A broad ray with red and black scales on the back, a broad mouth and white highlighted eyes looking straight. Opposite ist a squid with four tentacles. The central indentation is again surrounded by a wavy pattern.