An Attic Red-Figured Cup Fragment with an Athlete

Attributed to the Pistoxenos Painter, Circa 470 B.C.

Width 3 1/4 inches (8.26 cm).

Property from the Myra and Larry Karp Collection of Musical Boxes and Automata, Seattle, Washington

Provenance:

Myra Karp (b. 1939), Seattle, Washington.

Historical handwritten label: “From Greek Vase c. 480 B.C. Vulci (tomb)”

In what was the tondo of a large cup, a young nude athlete is shown in profile with part of his companion’s upraised arm preserved to his right. The clavicles, pectorals, and iliac crest are rendered in elegant, spare lines of glossy black slip, with the tidy coiffure of curls encircled by a thin fillet in added red. His expression is one of serene focus even as the upper body twists towards the viewer, the left arm carried over the body to the center. The right arm is bent sharply up and back at the elbow, the hand above waist level with slender fingers extended. The thumb and forefinger pluck delicately at a ribbon in added red. The youth is likely in the process of tying up his genitalia before competition (referred to in modern parlance as ‘infibulation’). In a peculiarity of the Greek athletic tradition, an athlete typically secured his penis with a cord (kynodesmē) for both practical reasons (as they trained and competed in the nude) as well as aesthetic considerations.

For a comparable cup in size and subject matter, see Berlin, Antikensammlung: 1960.2 (BAPD 211336).

Inspected under UV light and 10x loupe. Mild scratches, chips, and encrustation typical of age. Overall in superb condition, with relief lines abundantly visible. See additional images.

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Jacob Coley

Senior Vice President, Head of Department, Antiquities and Ancient Art

[email protected]312 280 1212

Mr. Coley joined the Antiquities department in 2021 after working as Managing Director in the Ancient Art department at Colnaghi, the world’s oldest commercial art gallery, where he helped to establish the Ancient Art department and launched Colnaghi New York in 2017. Prior to Colnaghi, Mr. Coley was in the Greek and Roman Art department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Coley holds a B.A. from the University of Miami and an M.A. in Art Market from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and he earned an art-appraisal certificate from New York University.

Antiquities and Ancient Art

An Attic Red-Figured Cup Fragment with an Athlete

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