Black-figure Alabastron: Water Birds
650-630 BCE
Description
Tiny, sack-shaped alabastron. Broad, rounded bottom with small inverted omphalos in center, curves outward and then inward as it moves toward the vessel's narrow neck. Rounded, beveled rim surrounds small mouth. Triangular handle with small, pierced opening. Black-figure with additions in red and incised details. Stylized guilloche pattern on shoulder/neck. Main zone contains a procession of water fowl with plump bodies, long necks, and long, pointy beaks. Feathers rendered with incision. Dot rosettes fill space in at head and neck level of the birds. Birds walk on lowest zone, which consists of tongues alternating in red and black and outlined in white and black. Pale buff fabric. Minor chipping on body; substantial flaking of slip.
Dimensions
6 cm (2 3/8 in.)
Provenance
From the collection of Herbert A. Cahn. Purchased at auction October 18, 2002. Jean-David Cahn AG, Auktion 3, 18 October 2002, Basel. Kunstwerke der Antike: Sammlung Tilly und Herbert A. Cahn. Lot 10.
Related Artworks
View MoreEnameled blue-and-white ware, "doucai" type: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue and overglaze polychrome enamels; with spurious underglaze cobalt blue mark reading "Da Ming Chenghua nian zhi" within a double circle on the base
18th centuryChineseYaozhou ware: light gray stoneware with celadon glaze over molded decor. From the Yaozhou kilns at Tongchuan, Shaanxi province.
12th centuryChineseStoneware with brown glaze
8th-9th centuryChineseStoneware with celadon glaze
6th centuryChineseMarble
2nd century BCE-1st century CEHellenistic or Early RomanHard-paste porcelain with enamel and gilt decoration.
20th centuryGermanEnameled porcelain: porcelain with emerald-green enamel over crackled glaze
18th-19th centuryChineseBlue-and-white ware: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue
13th-14th centuryChineseCeramic
11th centuryEgyptianHorn
17th centuryChinese