Francesca Hickin
Head of Department
Lot 84*
A Canosan pottery askos
6 July 2021, 15:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £16,500 inc. premium
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Anna Marston
Associate Specialist
A Canosan pottery askos
Apulia, early 3rd Century B.C.
Of ovoid form tapering to a flat base, the tall cylindrical spout with flared mouth, and broad strap handle, an applied winged head of Medusa modelled in high relief beneath the spout, depicted with snake tresses, their tails knotted below her neck, the head surmounted by an embracing couple, flanked by galloping Tritons, projecting from the body, the shoulder of the vessel with plinth-shaped false spouts on which stand a pair of draped female mourners, their hands raised in grief, with red hair falling in loose waves to the shoulder, a further draped female figure surmounting the handle, with traces of red, ochre and blue pigments remaining, 68cm high
Apulia, early 3rd Century B.C.
Of ovoid form tapering to a flat base, the tall cylindrical spout with flared mouth, and broad strap handle, an applied winged head of Medusa modelled in high relief beneath the spout, depicted with snake tresses, their tails knotted below her neck, the head surmounted by an embracing couple, flanked by galloping Tritons, projecting from the body, the shoulder of the vessel with plinth-shaped false spouts on which stand a pair of draped female mourners, their hands raised in grief, with red hair falling in loose waves to the shoulder, a further draped female figure surmounting the handle, with traces of red, ochre and blue pigments remaining, 68cm high
Footnotes
Provenance:
Mr Verschraeghen (d. 1980) collection, Oudenarde.
Mr. René Van den Broek (d. 2004) collection, Belgium, reputedly acquired from the above ca. 1959, and exhibited at the Belgian Antiques Fair, held at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels in January 1968.
Spanish art market.
Canosan askoi were used as grave offerings as well as for oil storage. The Gorgon mask was a common motif which served to ward off evil, protecting the deceased with its apotropaic qualities. There is an askos in the Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities, University of Canterbury, New Zealand with similar figurative groupings of a Gorgon head flanked by Tritons, with grieving mourners (acc. no. JLMC 186.00). For another askos with Gorgon mask and Triton figurative decoration see R. Cassano (ed.), Principi, Imperatori, Vescovi: Duemila anni di Storia a Canosa, Venice, 1992, p.522-523, fig. 3. The combination of Medusa with Tritons, mermen who were part man, horse and fish, is fitting as Medusa is also associated with horses by being the mother of Pegasus. Moreover, both Tritons and Pegasus were the sons of the sea god, Poseidon. The use of sea imagery frequently occurs on such grave vessels. Cf. another similarly elaborate Canosan figurative askos in the British Museum, London, acc. no. 1862,0712.2.