Campanian Red-Figure Askos

An ancient Campanian Greek red-figure askos with a high handle with the head of a woman on either side between decorative palmettes.

Campania, Magna Graecia, Southern Italy.
Ca. 350 - 300 BC.
Length: 5 1/2 in. (14 cm).

The output and quality of the Greek colonial potters working in Southern Italy increased greatly following the Peloponnesian War when Attic exports fell off sharply. South Italian Colonial Greek craftsmanship of the 4th century BC was an amalgamation of the Ionian (Athenian, Attic) conventions, and Doric (western colonial Greek) styles, with a noticeable native Italian aesthetic. The five predominant regional schools of South Italian pottery were: Apulian, Sicilian, Lucanian, Paestan, and Campanian.

The Campanian region around the Bay of Naples, produced red-figure vases in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The fine light brown clay of Campania produced a distinctive look. Campanian potters preferred mostly smaller vessel types, but did produce larger vessels like bell kraters and bail-amphora. Subjects include youths, women, birds and animals, and often native Samnite warriors. At 4,000 known vases, the Campanian style is the second most common in the region after Apulian.

Formerly in the B. N. collection, Mississippi, acquired from Harmer Rooke, New York, 1981.

Inv#: 8277

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