Attic ca. 350 B.C. Clay, added red and white.

H. 13 21/32 in; 34.7 cm

In the picture field of this drinking vessel, Dionysos with a cloak draped around his shoulders and wearing a wreath of vine leaves, rides to left on a proudly prancing white panther. Dionysos holds a tambourine (?) in his right hand and a thyrsos in his left hand. Behind him, a maenad dances with verve, swinging a large tambourine. In front of them, an energetic satyr with a thyrsos leads the group onwards. An ornamental band with a wave pattern below the shoulder. On the reverse, three robed figures standing above a laurel frieze. Flaring rim and foot offset by profiled edges. Details such as the panther’s fur accentuated with applied red or white. Restored in the 19th century from fragments of different sizes. The figural painting on the chalice preserved on large fragments. The vase belongs to the final phase of Attic red-figure pottery which is termed Kerch pottery after a site found in the east of the Crimean peninsula.
 

On some of the smaller and medium-sized restorations, the ancient surface was in part overpainted. Smaller lacunae in the largely preserved flaring rim restored. Interior surface partially covered with shellac. Larger areas of secondary firing on the back. It is worth considering a complete restoration of the vessel.

Acquired by the Danish Captain Charles Huus (b. 1869) in Athens, 10 January 1908, evidenced by a copy of the original purchase documents in French with signature and Greek stamp. A photograph pre-dates 1943. Thereafter passed on in the family as a wedding gift.