Greek
An Attic black-figure Little Master band cup, Late Archaic, circa 540 - 500 BC
Pottery
Width: 20 cm including handles; diameter of bowl: 13.9 cm
Further images
Decorated on both sides with a scene of a grazing deer in front of a panther both with additional details in added red paint.
Decorated on both sides with a scene of a grazing deer in front of a panther both with additional details in added red paint.
Provenance
Karl Donndorf (1870 – 1941) Collection, Stuttgart, Germany, acquired prior to 1941, thence by descent
Donndorf was a son of the sculptor Adolf von Donndorf. After training with his father and at the Stuttgart art school, he continued his studies in Dresden (1892), Paris (1900) and Rome (1902). His later works were influenced by his interest in Classical art, for example his 1911 sculpture, Pallas Athena Brunnen (Athena springing from head of Zeus).
Literature
Little Master cups represent a refined and delicate miniature style of vase painting common in Athens in the 6th century BC: J. Beazley, 'Little-Master Cups', The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 52 (2), p. 167-204.The subject of a panther opposite a grazing deer is commonly found on Attic black-figure cups, usually they are part of a longer frieze with other animals. There is another example depicting the panther and deer in St. Petersburg (B68.195): Beazley Archive Pottery Database no. 9023777; Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum 3, 30-31, fig.16, pl. 461, 15.1-4; also Munich 2188: Beazley Archive Pottery Database no. 31990; Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Munich, Antikensammlungen 11, 11-12, fig. 1.1, pl. 2770, 1.1-5.