Kantharos

Clay dull red. Body solid black nearly to base, an impressed red line below handles; on the neck an ivy leaf and fruit garland of thick pale red. Ovoid body, spreading foot, wide neck, double cord handle with clasp at top. ITALIAN VASE PAINTING in ITALY, #163 (19.300) Kantharos Etruscan 2nd half of 4th century B.C. On either side of the neck is an ivy vine with reddish leaves and berries and incised stems. A groove, gouged freehand through the dull black glaze before firing, circles the body. High similar kantharoi have been excavated at Tarquinia. Only the profiles of the rims differ significantly; compare Pianu, Sovradipinte, pl. 104, nos. 348-249. Compare also the decoration and shape (except the handles) of a vase in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (H.Hoffman, "Ten Centuries that Shaped the West: Greek and Roman Art in Texas Collections [Houston, 1971], p. 437, no. 198). These kantharoi are evident imitations of contemporary Apulian Gnathian ware.