Attributed to
AV II - The Libation Group
Greek (active ca. 4th century BCE - ) Primary

South Italian Red-Figure Lid

Classical-Hellenistic
4th century BCE-3rd century BCE

2 3/8 x 5 1/2 x 1/8 in. (6 x 14 x 0.3 cm)

This object has the following keywords:

• lids - Covers for the opening at the top of a vessel or other receptacle, or which close the mouth of an aperture; lids may be detached or turned upon a hinge in order to give access to the interior.
• palmette - Motif resembling a stylized erect leaf divided into lobes, in the form of a fan or palm leaf, often supported by spirals. Its origins are obscure, but similar motifs are first recorded in Syria and Mesopotamia and in the islands of the eastern Mediterranean by the 2nd millennium BCE. As the name suggests, it may have been derived from representations of palm-trees, especially in view of the belief that a tree cult may have existed in western Asia in association with the introduction of the cultivated date-palm; however, it has much in common with other early floral and spiral motifs. The motif is common in classical and classicizing styles, used either individually or along with other conventionalized flower or foliage forms, for example, in an anthemion.
• portraits - Representations of real individuals that are intended to capture a known or supposed likeness, usually including the face of the person. For representations intended to be anonymous, or of fictional or mythological characters, see "figures (representations)."
• Red-figure - Refers to a style of Greek vase painting that developed from the Black-figure style. It appeared in Athens around 530 BCE and spread to other areas of Greece, southern Italy, Etruria, and elsewhere in the Mediterranean area, until it disappeared in the third century BCE. The style is characterized by a particular technique, which involves the use of refined slip and a two-phase firing process to create a black ground through sintering, with figures reserved in red. The details of the figures are more fluid than in the Black-figure style, and are typically drawn with a brush, using both a defined, black relief line and a more dilute line that varies in color from dark gold to black.
• South Italian - Ancient pottery styles of southern Italy.
• vase paintings - Refers to two-dimensional decoration applied to pottery by using paint made of metallic oxides or other pigments held in suspension in slip or another medium. The term is particularly used to refer to Ancient Greek red- and black-figure works. See also "porcelain paintings (visual works)."

This object is a member of the following portfolios: