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.