• Attica, c. 440 BC
  • Terracotta 
  • Inv. 682

Greek vase

This calyx-krater shaped vase in terracotta painted by the ‘red figure’ technique, displays the ‘free style’ characteristic of the mid-5th century BC. The narrative themes are of a mythological nature, on two levels, the upper part depicting the abduction of the daughters of Leucippus by the twin deities Castor and Pollux. The lower part is a Bacchic scene involving satyrs pursing maenads. An ovule frieze separates the two registers framed by an upper frieze of oblique palmettes and a lower one where Greeks alternate with St Andrew crosses.

It was found at Agrigento, Sicily, and attributed to ‘Coghill’s painter’, from the name of its first owner.

Provenance

Agrigento excavations; Coghill Collection; Thomas Hope Collection. Acquired by Calouste Gulbenkian at the sale of the Hope Collection, Christie’s, London, 1917.

H. 42 cm; Diam. 44 cm 

Goffen 1995

Rona Goffen (ed.), Museums Discovered. The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Woodbine Books, 1995, pp. 36–7.

Lisbon 2001

Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, 2001, p. 25, cat. 10.

Rocha-Pereira 2012

Maria Helena Rocha-Pereira, A Greek Vase in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, 2012.

Updated on 22 april 2022

Cookies settings

Cookies Selection

This website uses cookies to improve your browsing experience, security, and its website performance. We may also use cookies to share information on social media and to display messages and advertisements personalised to your interests, both on our website and in others.