Apulian Ware Pottery Prochous Attributed to Xenon Group, c. 330-300 B.C.

(Apulian Xenon Prochous)

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Item No.
36.37635
Culture
Greek, Apulian, c. 330-300 B.C. 
Item Details.
Ovoid body on a moulded disc foot, with a tall arched strap handle rising well above the mouth and a long tubular spout set at an angle, the junction of handle and spout marked by small plastic faces on either side. The vase is entirely covered in black glaze, over which the decoration is applied in a matte orange-red slip.

A band of long tongues radiates from the base of the neck, closed below by a group of encircling lines. The main frieze runs round the shoulder and is divided into panels by columns with spreading capitals.. Within them are figures drawn in the summary linear style characteristic of the class: two runners, a pair of boxers with fists raised, two wrestlers locked at close quarters, and a boar hunt in which the animal charges to the left, mane bristling, pursued by a crouching hunter.

The vase belongs to the Xenon Group, the monochrome overpainted class of Apulian pottery named after an inscribed vase in Frankfurt. The technique consists of decoration applied in added clay-coloured slip over the black-glazed surface, and it stands as the direct predecessor of the far better known and far more widely distributed Gnathia ware, which is slightly later and uses polychrome overpainting in white, yellow and red.

Provenance: with Jerome Eisenberg (1930-2022), Royal-Athena Galleries, New York. with Hixenbaugh Ancient Art, New York. Acquired by the present owner from the above, 6 June 2023.

Attribution verified by accredited archaeologist, specialist in Ancient Mediterranean Ceramics and Numismatics.
Size
18.2 cm H (including handle) - 7 1/16 inches
Material
Terracotta 
Condition
Intact 
Categories
Greek
Price.
US$ 2800
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