Greek
An Attic black-glazed stemmed dish, Circa 500 - 450 BC
Pottery
Width: 21.7 cm
The elegant, wide, and shallow bowl has a concave lip with a flattened upper surface. The dish is supported by a slender stem that leads seamlessly to the foot. The...
The elegant, wide, and shallow bowl has a concave lip with a flattened upper surface. The dish is supported by a slender stem that leads seamlessly to the foot. The entire vessel is covered in glossy black-glaze, except for a ring around the foot, the rim of the foot and the underside that are left in reserve. An old label remains on the inside of the dish.
Provenance
Nostell Priory Collection, Yorkshire, acquired by Charles Winn (1795-1874) in the 19th centuryChristie's, London, Greek and Etruscan Vases from Nostell Priory, 30 April 1975, lot 4
Nostell is one of the great treasure houses of the north of England. It dates from 1733, and was built for the Winn family on the site of a medieval priory.
Charles Winn (1795-1874) unexpectedly inherited the Nostell estate after the death of his brother John in 1817. As well as transforming the property, Charles as a keen scholar also established a taste for antiques and started to collect in the tradition of his eighteenth-century ancestors. One of his first acts was the acquisition of an important collection of ancient Etruscan vases 'for the moderate sum of 500 [pounds sterling', which his brother, John, had found in Naples whilst on the Grand Tour. Described at that time as 'the second most substantial collection of Greek vases in this country which is still in private hands', it was sold and dispersed in 1975. However, a few items have since been reacquired by the National Trust and are now displayed on the mantelpiece in the Billiard Room.
Literature
Stemmed dishes were most popular between the late 6th century and the second quarter of the 5th century BC. It is believed that larger stemmed dishes such as this example were used to hold nuts, olives and fruit.For further discussion see B. A. Sparkes and L. Talcott, The Athenian Agora, Vol.XII, Black and Plain Pottery of the 6th, 5th and 4th centuries BC, Part 1, Princeton, 1970, p. 138. For a similar example see, F.S Knauss, and J. Gebauer, Black is Beautiful: Griechische Glanztonkeramik, Munich, 2019, p. 163, cat. no. 159.