Lot 27: Published Greek Apulian Volute Krater, ex-Christie's

Magna Graecia, Southern Italy, Apulia, attributed to the White Saccos Painter by Trendall, ca. 330 to 310 BCE. An impressive Apulian red-figure volute krater of a grand scale, presenting an elegant form with intriguing iconography (see extended description below) and elaborate decoration, all finely delineated via the red-figure technique with additional fugitive white, yellow, and red/orange pigments - as well as swan heads/ducks modeled in the round and mascaroon volutes adorning the handles. Interestingly, this vase was created in two sections - the large vessel fits into a separate base. A remarkable vase of the so-called Ornate Style by the White Saccos Painter (see more on this artist in the extended description below) of an impressively grand scale, decorated with an ultra fine hand to depict intriguing scenes and figures as well as a great deal of subsidiary ornament in added colors. Size: 17" W x 34.125" H (43.2 cm x 86.7 cm); 35.125" H (89.2 cm) on included custom stand.

Side A of this volute krater features a seated nude warrior in an Ionic naiskos, sitting upon his cloak, facing right with his head turned back, holding a spear in his bent right arm and a crested Corinthian helmet in his raised left hand. To the lower right is a cuirass that is shaded to reflect his musculature and painted in golden yellow to simulate the metal of the original armor, with red arm and neck holes to represent the leather lining. In addition, greaves hang above and flank his head. Before the warrior is a sheathed sword. The podium below is adorned by a band of Greek key motifs. Surrounding the naiskos are four female offering bearers, either sitting or standing, all facing inward, holding various articles - the lady to the upper left holds a fan and a ball of wool, and two phiale before her; the lady below her holds a phiale and an oinochoe; the bearer to the upper right looks at her reflection in a hand-held mirror and adjusts her clothing - an alabastron in her midst; and the female below her holds an alabastron in one hand and a blossoming flower or grape cluster in the other. Adorning the neck of the vase on the obverse is a female head of an Amazon appearing to emerge from a blossom flanked by elaborate floral tendrils. Above this is a most distinctive register comprised of three-dimensional dentils followed by a narrow beaded band. Below her is a fretted band.

Side B presents a floral composition with a three-tiered flowering plant within the Ionic naiskos, its podium with a scrolling berried vine. This is flanked by four lovely female offering bearers, seated or standing, all facing in, and also holding various attributes - one seated with a mirror and a grape cluster, an alabastron and ball of wool before her; a standing lady with a phiale, an alabastron and ball of wool before her; to the right is a seated female with a mirror and alabastron; and one standing with a wreath and a patera. Adorning the neck is a Lady of Fashion flanked by stylized palmettes, a laurel wreath register above comprised of a pair of opposing leafy, berried branches surrounding a central petaled-floral blossom set in a wreath, followed by a narrow beaded register, and below the lady, a fretted band. Continuing to the underside of the rim, all the way around the vessel, is a band of repeated wave motifs, followed by an ovalo band on the rim. Below the naiskos scenes and continuing all the way around the vessel is a band of Greek key (meander) pattern.

Adding further interest to this impressive iconographic and decorative program are the elaborate palmettes beneath each handle, and a pair of plastic (completely in the round) duck or swan necks/heads emerging from the shoulders and forming the lower sections of the handles. The swans are black in contrast with the white molded relief mascaroons in the form of frontal facing female heads of the same likenesses as those on the obverse, only one pair has a black wavy coiffure and the opposing pair has a yellow blonde coiffure. This play on a black-and-white contrasts perhaps symbolizes day and night, good and evil, or life and death. In the Classical world, the swan symbolized grace and beauty, and was oftentimes associated with love, poetry, and music. Furthermore, the swan was regarded as sacred to Aphrodite and Apollo. According to Greek mythology, sacred swans circled the island of Delos seven times when Apollo was born, because it was the seventh day of the month. Zeus showered his son with lavish gifts including a chariot drawn by swans and a lyre. Aphrodite also rode a chariot that is sometimes depicted pulled by swans, though oftentimes by doves, and she is commonly depicted riding a swan. Finally, in the story of Leda and the Swan, Zeus, assuming the form of a swan, famously seduced Leda.

Completing the program, the separately made pedestal base is elaborately adorned with a wide central register featuring a Lady of Fashion on one side and a palmette on the opposite side. Between these is a sinuous floral vine; lovely details added in fugitive white, yellow, and red. Above is an ovalo band, and below a band of wave motifs.

The White Saccos Painter, to whom Trendall attributed this vessel, was a follower of the most important late Apulian vase painter, the Baltimore Painter. His early works are extremely close to those of the Baltimore Painter. Trendall called him "the immediate successor and true heir of the Baltimore Painter" (see Arthur Dale Trendall, Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily, a Handbook (London, Thames and Hudson, 1989), p. 99). The White Saccos Painter worked mostly on larger vessels like this example, but being a prolific artist he decorated many smaller vessels as well. The group to which the Baltimore Painter, the White Saccos Painter, the Stoke-on-Trent Painter, the Arpi Painter, the Kantharos Group and others belonged worked in Canosa or somewhere close by.

Virtually no ancient Greek paintings have survived the tests of time. This makes the painted compositions found on ceramic vessels like this example invaluable sources of information about ancient Greek visual art. Refined vases like this volute krater were not merely utilitarian pottery, but rather works of art in their own right, highly prized throughout the classical world. Red figure pieces in particular allowed for the development of more naturalistic imagery than black figure examples. This innovative technique involved creating figures by outlining them in the natural red of the vase, making it possible for the painter to then enrich the figural forms with black lines to suggest volume, perspectival depth, and movement, bringing those silhouettes and their environs to life. Beyond this, fugitive pigments made it possible for the artist to create additional layers of interest and detail.

Published in A.D. Trendall and A. Cambitoglou, First Supplement to the Red-Figured Vases of Apulia, London, 1983, p. 184, no. 29/2d, pls. XXXIX, 3-4.

This piece sold at Christie's New York for $56,250 on December 13, 2013 (Sale 2755, Lot 95). See

Provenance: private Davis collection, Houston, Texas, USA; ex-Christie's December 13, 2013 New York Antiquities Auction, lot 95; ex-private Santa Monica, California, USA collection, a California corporation; ex-Christie's December 15, 1993 Antiquities Auction, lot 124

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#132861

Minor surface wear with slight pigment loss, though most remains to delinate and embellish remarkable imagery. Deliberately drilled perforations done in antiquity, possibly for handling post-firing given its monumental size or for venting, two through shoulder and two through handles. Comes with a handsome custom stand made to support this massive vessel.