Oud-Grieks Keramiek Chous - met atleet - Six's techniek. Attica, 450 - 400 v.Chr. Hoogte 9,5 cm.

Chous Six's Technique.

Ancient Greek, Attica, 450 - 400 B.C.

Ceramic.

9.5 cm height.

CONDITION: Good condition. Slight loss of black varnish.

PROVENANCE: Private collection, Sudbury, United States of America. Acquired circa 1950s.

DESCRIPTION:

Attic chous with a globular body, a low circular foot, a three-lobed mouth and a vertical handle in the shape of a ribbon, which starts in the middle of the tank and ends at the mouth, rising slightly above it. It is decorated using the Six technique, with the motifs applied in red on a black varnish base that covers the entire piece. The front of the chous depicts a nude athlete, a lamp-medley runner holding his characteristic torch. This type of relay race was celebrated in Athens during certain important festivals, notably the Panathenaean, Promethean and Hephaestian festivals. The athlete is depicted in profile to the right, holding the torch in front of him with his left hand. On the right side is depicted a kind of altar, perhaps symbolising the Dipylon Gate, the goal of the lampadedromes. The image is inscribed in a simple frame decorated at the top and bottom with parallel lines that evoke grooves or grooves.

Six's technique takes its name from the first historian to describe it, Jan Six, and is characterised by the application of red or white pigments over the black ground varnish to depict the figures. The details were then marked by incision, leaving the black ground colour visible. The effect is similar to that of the red-figure technique, with the motifs in light tones on a dark background. Introduced by Attic black-figure painters as a technique for depicting secondary details, it began to be used regularly to decorate vases in their entirety around 530 BC and remained in use until the second half of the 5th century BC.

The chous (an oinochoe type 3) is the most widely attested vase form in Attica between the late 5th and early 4th century BC. It has a globular body, a low neck ending in a trilobed lip, a narrow handle joining the body and mouth, and a small ring-shaped foot. This miniature example belongs to a specific class of vessels, which were made and distributed almost exclusively in the Attica region. Choes were given to three-year-old children to use for their first wine tasting.

These rituals, which allowed the admission of young children into the religious community of the city, took place during the Anthesteria, the Athenian festivals held at the end of February in honour of Dionysos. During the second of the three days of the festivals, called "Chous Day", a drinking contest was organised for all the adult men and for the young boys, who drank from the small jugs given to them on that special day. The Anthesteria was also an occasion to celebrate the maturing of the wine, which was traditionally opened on the first day of the festivities (the Pithoigia was the opening of the jars in which the wine was stored) and consumed during the various rituals.

These miniature vessels were therefore an essential element in the conduct of these ceremonies and in the initiation of children into the religious life of the entire city. Archaeologists have found them mainly in the tombs of children who died prematurely, at least at the age of three. The scenes depicted on these small jars were closely related to the life of children and to the Anthesteria festival. Surrounded by wreaths of flowers and/or carrying amulets, the children play with chariots, with a ball, with animals, eat ritual cakes, and so on.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

- HAMILTON R. Choes and Anthesteria: Athenian Iconography and Ritual. University of Michigan Press. 1992.
- SIX, J. “A rare vase-technique”, en Journal of Hellenic Studies 30, pp. 323-326. 1910.
- SPARKES, B. A. The Red and the Black: Studies in Greek Pottery. Routledge. 1996.
- VAN HOORN G. Choes and Anthesteria. Brill. 1951.

PARALLELS:

Fig. 1 Chous with hoplite athlete, Six technique. Athens, ca. 450-400 B.C., ceramics. Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. CA 8; L 46.







Notes:
- The piece includes authenticity certificate.
- The piece includes Spanish Export License.
- The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.


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