Attic Greek Red-Figure Rhyton in the Shape of a Ram’s Head

Greek · Attic, 5th century B.C.

Material

Terracotta

Dimensions

L: 21 cm

Reference

21243

Price

POR

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Overview

Molded in the form of a ram’s head, the muzzle black-glazed, with reserved areas along the grooves at the end of the nose, the nostrils and the mouth, the bulging eyes in added white, with thick molded lids, the fleece composed of a series of tiny raised pellets, the underslung horns ribbed, the black-glazed ears emerging from within, wisps along the forehead in dilute glaze

The bowl with the goddess Aphrodite enthroned on a klismos, her right elbow leaning on the back of her chair, her left forearm resting on her leg, a dove standing on the chair beside her, her winged son Eros standing with a fan behind her, a draped female standing before her, wearing a rayed diadem, presenting her with an alabastron in her extended right hand, her drapery held up in her left, Ares further to the right, depicted nude but for a himation pinned at his neck, his dagger secured by a baldric, spears in his left hand, a draped female before him with a phiale in her extended left hand; palmettes on either side of the handle, with two dotted circles in between

The vessel perforated at the ram’s mouth.

Provenance

Art market, prior to 1992;

Ex- Mr. & Mrs. Charles W. Newhall, III collection

Published

Myth & Majesty, Deities and Dignitaries of the Ancient World, Antiquarium, New York, 1992, no. 22.

Bibliography

Margaret C. Miller, Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century BC: A Study in Cultural Receptivity, Cambridge, 1997, plate 40.