Antiquities and Ancient Art

Provenance:

Private Collection, Northern Germany.

Gorny & Mosch, Munich, Auktion 168, 24 June 2008, Lot 286.

Royal Athena Galleries, New York, 2009 (Art of the Ancient World, Vol. XX, no. 103).

Published:

Beazley Archive Pottery Database no. 9022124

The restrained figural decoration of this vase is well suited to its slender, elegant shape. On the reverse, a satyr steps with a jaunty, purposeful stride to the left, with slack wineskin and thyrsos slung over his left shoulder, and slim oinochoe held somewhat more carefully in the outstretched right hand. The identity of the nude standing figure on the obverse is informed by the satyr and his activity: here, Dionysos is distinguished from his follower by the lush vegetal crown worn over his gathered coiffure (one tendril escaping to trail artfully down his neck) while the upright thyrsos in his left hand makes it unlikely he is a mortal symposiast.

Dionysos seems to have halted his progression forward, turning to look over his rear shoulder to monitor the satyr’s progress – clearly, he is tasked with refilling that deep drinking cup – and perhaps exhort him to greater speed. This interplay between figures on opposing sides of the vase highlights the painter’s sensitivity, as do flourishes such as Dionysos’ foreshortened left foot and the use of dilute glaze on the satyr’s bushy beard. The legacy of the Berlin Painter (in whose workshop Hermonax was trained) can be perceived, too, in the energetic draftsmanship and spotlighting of two lone figures in an otherwise unadorned black vase.