Apulian Gnathia Skyphos

A large ancient Apulian Greek Gnathia skyphos with a nude, winged Eros in added white paint, holding a phiale in his left hand, a branch in his right, stands beneath ornate grape arbor, meander pattern above and a wave pattern on the reverse.

Apulia, Magna Graecia, South Eastern Italy.
Ca. 340 - 300 BC.
Height: 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm).

Gnathia ware is so named as it was first found at the Apulian site of Egnathia. The black glaze ware is often decorated with applied red, white, or yellow painted floral motifs. Production probably was centered around Taras, with workshops in Egnathia, Canosa and Sicily..
The output and quality of the Greek colonial potters working in Apulia increased greatly following the Peloponnesian War when Attic exports fell off sharply. Apulian craftsmanship is an amalgamation of the Ionian (Athenian, Attic) conventions, and Doric (western colonial Greek) styles, with a noticeable native Italian aesthetic.

Published: J. Eisenberg, Art of the Ancient World, vol. IX (1997), no. 121.

Formerly in a Michigan private collection, acquired from Royal-Athena Galleries, New York.

Inv#: 7903

$9,500

Guaranteed Authentic

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