Lot 705
A Large Red Figure Mug Depicting Herakles. Magna Graecia, Apulia (or perhaps Paestum), c. 350-330 BC. An unusually large and finely potted "mug" (type VIII mug) is executed in both painted and incised technique. The glaze is a silvery metallic-looking black, with added details in yellow. The primary scene with Herakles, clad in the skin of the Nemean lion, who raises his club to slay the centaur Nessos, whom he grasps by the hair. Nessos with panther skin draped over his shoulders. In yellow paint is a wreath and bracelets for Nessos, and bracelets and anklets(!) for Herakles. Fillers in field comprised of large tendrils and acanthus palmette. At mug's shoulder a row of ovolo and petals. At neck, incised ivy vine, the leaves painted. A nearly invisisble repair at handle, otherwise vessel intact, and very well preserved (some trivial rubbing or flaking to glaze). Height: 5-1/2".A notable lot for both the rare, large size of the mug, plus the rarity of Herakles scenes in this body of work.
Estimated Value $3,500 - 4,000.
Vessel attributed to the Lampas painter. Cf. Bottini & Fresa, Forentum II, Venosa 1991, pl. 51.
Nessos was a centaur who, ultimately, was the instrument of Herakles' death. Nessos carried Deïanira, the daughter of King Oenus (along with being Herakles' wife), across the River Evenus and then tried to rape her while Herakles was stranded on the other bank. Herakles saved her by shooting him with an arrow that had been dipped in the poison of the Lernaean hydra. The dying Nessus told the gullible Deïanira to gather up some of his blood to use as a love potion on Herakles, should the hero's love for her ever begin to wane. Later, when Herakles began wooing Iole, Deianira sent to Herakles a robe that had been dipped in Nessus' blood. The centaur's blood actually proved to be a poison which brought about the hero's demise. Deïanira, finding out what she had actually done, commited suicide.
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