Greek Athenian red figure pelike with satyr and Dionysos

G34

£1,200.00

Sold

An Attic red figure pottery pelike vase with two handles and painted decoration to both sides. The front of the pelike is decorated with a figure of a satyr reaching out to Dionysos, the god of wine, who holds a thyrsus in front of him and a kantharos cup in his left hand. The god’s feet are depicted moving away from the striding satyr as if teasing the thirsty inebriated creature with his cup containing wine. The back of the vase is decorated with two typical standing robed figures in conversation and separated by a staff.

The pelike was used as a mixing vessel for wine and water before it was drunk, therefore such vases are often decorated with scenes related to wine and inebriation. The satyr, like his female equivalent in the form of a maenad, was seen as a drunken and unruly beast inhabiting remote forests.

Culture
Greek, Athens, mid to late 5th Century BC

Size
24 x 18.8 cms

Condition
Fragmentary and eroded; crudely repaired in the early 20th Century with areas of restoration and over-painting, losses as seen in the photographs

Provenance
Ex. Brunet Collection, Les Baux-de-Provence, France; acquired before 1973. Probably acquired with other items from the collection of the antiquarian G. Lepetit, France; active 1930’s-1940’s.

For a pelike with a more refined depiction of a similar scene of Dionysos and a satyr, please see:
https://www.carc.ox.ac.uk/XDB/ASP/recordDetailsLarge.asp?newwindow=true&id={27D3E05D-1A70-4989-AC09-9B8454D853FF}&fileName=/Vases/SPIFF/IMAGES100/202/202458.A/cc001001.jpe

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