Greece, Athens, 5th century BCE. This is a red-figure pottery skyphos, a dual-handled, deep cup with a low flanged base, used for drinking wine. The design originated in Corinth and spread throughout Greece, initially being made of precious metals like gold and silver. The decoration is of two nude male hunters preparing to spear a wolf. This type of skyphos was extremely popular and was exported from Athens throughout the Greek world, including into Italy, a Type A under Beazley's classification system, with two horizontal handles attached just below the lip. The artwork celebrates a common Attic theme, the muscular strength and beauty of young, unbearded men. They are hunting a wolf, an animal rich in mythological meaning. Greek viewers might have connected it to Achilles, who was fed as an infant by Chiron on the "marrow of the half-living she-wolf". They might also have called to mind wolf cults in Arcadia, or the story of King Lycaon, a human transformed into a wolf who went on to feast on human flesh. The artist might also simply have been invoking a frightening but fascinating real animal still very much present and dangerous in the forests and mountains of Greece at this time. With its sparing iconography and beautiful form, this skyphos is an example of the craftsmanship and economic power of Classical Athens. Size: 3.75" L x 6.35" W x 3.3" H (9.5 cm x 16.1 cm x 8.4 cm)

Provenance: Ex-LA County collection

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#117449

One handle reattached else intact and near choice