Athenian relief decorated lekythos with symposium scene

G105

£2,100.00

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An extremely rare squat lekythos with red figure and applied relief decoration. The front of the vase depicts a man reclining on a kline (symposium couch) with his outstretched hand resting on the shoulder of a naked woman seated by his feet. To the right of the banquet couch is a seated woman holding a mirror. A further relief figure has probably been lost on the left side of the central scene.

The back of the lekythos is decorated with a red figure scrolling palmette and the white and red painted relief decoration is set on a black glazed background.

Very few relief-decorated lekythoi have survived from antiquity and only a few dozen examples are recorded in museums and private collections.

Culture
Greek, Athens, c. 400-300 BC

Condition
Repaired from fragments with losses and wear as seen in the photographs. There is some minor infill in the breaks but no significant restoration or reconstruction.

Size
14.8 x 7 cms

Provenance
Ex. deceased estate, Gundelfingen, Germany; acquired during the 1950’s-1970’s.

For an example lacking the white painting but with the same symposium scene and different surrounding figures, please see: Berlin Museum, Antikensammlung, inventory F2704.
https://www.cvaonline.org/xdb/ASP/recordDetails.asp?newwindow=true&id={8799F1F2-A1A1-4564-9FE4-B37049B5197E}

For another relief lekythos with white painting and almost certainly by the same potter/workshop as our example, please see: Getty Museum, Malibu, USA, inventory 79.AE.217
https://www.cvaonline.org/xdb/ASP/recordDetails.asp?newwindow=true&id={01BC6974-5224-4125-8CC4-83DC388DDE86}

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