Magna Graecia, Apulian region of southern Italy, Gnathian, ca. 330 to 320 BCE. Attributed to the Toledo Painter, a tantalizing polychrome ceramic situla of a grand form with a twisted rope-like black handle, the spout depicting the head of a comedic or satyr theatre mask, with an open white bearded mouth, orange-yellow detailing of eyes on a red ground, and a textured red filet forming his coiffure or wreath. Inside the spout, behind the mouth, a strainer was added to catch irregularities in the contents of the situla. A mask of Papposilenos was added to the opposite side just beneath the handle. The exterior walls are painted and incised with multiple decorative registers including ovalo, filets, laurel leaves, dotted spiral waves, a beaded band, and abundant grapevines with doves, flowers, and budded tendrils in the field - all in added fugitive red, white, and yellow pigments against the black ground. Its concave foot is adorned with two crossed red bands on the underside. Size: 11" W at widest x 12.25" H (27.9 cm x 31.1 cm)

The Toledo Painter is named for a pair of oinochai and a situla in The Toledo Museum of Art. According to their curatorial team, vases attributed to this painter "show a luxury of color and mastery of design elements not usually seen in Gnathia ware." (see p. 27 in C.G. Boulter and K.T. Luckner, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, The Toledo Museum of Art, Fascicule 2). According to the Christies essay about this piece, "The example presented here features a mask of Papposilenos applied below one end of the handle, seemingly cast from the same mold used on the namesake situla, while the other end has a comedic mask serving as the spout."

Situlae with clay handles are quite rare. Vessels like this were used to mix water and wine. The shape was intended to imitate a metal bucket; see Rainer Vollkommer, Unteritalische Vasen. (Kleine Reihe des Antikenmuseums der Universität Leipzig, 2) (Leipzig, Universitätsverlag, 1995), p. 30, and Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Deutschland 72: Hannover, Kestner Museum 2, (München, C.H. Beck, 2000), pl. 57, 4-6; 58, 1-2. For additional information and comparisons see J. Richard Green, "Gnathia and Other Overpainted Wares of Italy and Sicily: a Survey", in Évelyne Geny (ed., sous la direction de Pierre Lévêque et Jean-Paul Morel), Céramiques Hellénistiques et Romaines III (Besançon, Presses Universitaires Franc-Comtoises, 2001), 57-103, esp. p. 89, no. 15) as well as Anneliese Kossatz-Deißmann, "Eine neue Phrygerkopf-Situla des Toledo-Malers", Archäologischer Anzeiger 1990 (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut), p. 505-520. A comparable spout can also be found in Leipzig, Antikenmuseum der Universität, inv. no. T951, see Vollkommer, o.c., p. 30-32, no. 18 (illustrated).

Provenance: ex-Christies, New York, 25 October 2017, sale 14356, lot 100; ex- Manhattan, New York, USA private collection; ex- Herbert A. Cahn, Basel

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#129738

Minor wear / loss to pigments; some areas show a red rather than black ground due to ancient misfiring.