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Lot 30*

An Attic black-figure olpe of Dionysos riding a donkey

6 July 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £3,200 inc. premium

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An Attic black-figure olpe of Dionysos riding a donkey
Circa 525-500 B.C.
24.5cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
G.L. collection, Ascona, reputedly prior to 1980.
with Galerie Serodine, Ascona.
Private collection, Switzerland, acquired from the above 11 November 2012.

There are multiple myths linking Dionysos to mules or donkeys. One is where he comes upon a swamp during his wanderings that is too deep for him to cross. There are two donkeys on the shoreline and he catches and rides one across the swamp. As a thank-you for helping him cross the god makes the two donkeys constellations (part of the modern day Cancer constellation). Another is when Dionysos brings Hephaestos back to Mount Olympus on the back of a donkey after he was expelled for his deformities.

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