Attic Black-Figure Kassel Cup: Swans

An ancient Attic Greek black-figure Kassel cup painted with pairs of confronting swans on each side, each swan with a long curving neck and outstretched wings, with palmettes on either side of each handle, a band of laurel leaves around the body below, and rays above the foot.

Athens, Attica.

Ca. 530 - 520 BC.

Width: 7 3/4 in. (20 cm).

The Kassel cup, named after vase no. 1206 in the Staatliche Museen Kassel, Antikensammlung, Karlsruhe, Germany, is one of a small subgroup of wine drinking cups made in Athens soon after the middle of the 6th century BC. These vases are characterized by their small size, delicate potting, and fine exterior decoration consisting of bands of small figures, ivy, laurel, and rays.

cf.: P. Heesen, Athenian Little Master Cups, (Basel, 2011), pls. 112-113, for cups by the Tleson Painter with similar small swans.

Formerly in the F.B. collection, Zurich, 1970's.

Inv#: 5495

Guaranteed Authentic

$17,500