Ancient Greece, Athens, ca. 540 BCE. A beautiful Attic lip cup - a type of Little Master Cup or kylix - created during the mid 6th century BCE that resembles a Gordion cup, only its lip is more defined from the rest of the body, standing on a hollow conical pedestal foot with a broad base. In this example the lip is undecorated; however, just beneath the lip and on the exterior wall is a lovely surprise, a register featuring a skillfully delineated swan flanked by a pair of deer - this scene on both sides, with tendrilled palmettes to either side of the upraised loop handles. A concentric circle adorns the tondo, as is customary for Attic-ware. Lip cups were somewhat difficult to produce, and the pronounced ridge underneath the rim of lip cups would have prevented spillage. Size: 10.875" in diameter x 4.875" H (27.6 cm x 12.4 cm)

This piece presents strong Attic black-figure painting - a painting technique from the Archaic period. The artist first painted with slipware and then carefully scratched into it with a type of needle in order to incise the lines, thus creating delightful figures and patterns. In this case, the artist has depicted deer, an animal sacred to Artemis, the goddess of the wilderness, and swans which played a complex role in Greek mythology. The swan was the attribute of Aphrodite and Apollo, said to sing a song of unearthly beauty as it dies, and as the form assumed by Zeus to ravish Leda, mother of Helen of Troy. Both deer and swans were popular motifs used in a variety of tablewares from this period. Judging from this example, one can see why.

Provenance: ex-private Manhattan, New York, USA collection, acquired from Galleria Serodine, Ascona, Switzerland in 1984 (Schweizerische Kunst-und Antiquitätemesse, Basel, April 9-17, 1988, lot 36)

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#129526

A few tiny nicks to rim of base. Repaired from about a half dozen pieces with areas of restoration near the break lines. Surface wear with some areas of pigment loss as shown. Nice areas of iridescence.