Bell krater. Ancient Greek, 4th Century B.C. Ceramic. 27 cm height and 30.2 cm diameter. PROVENANCE: Private collection, Carcassonne, France. Acquired before the 1970's. CONSERVATION: Intact. DESCRIPTION: The crater is a type of Greek pottery used to contain a mixture of water and wine, with which the cups were filled. It was moved to the place of the meal and placed on the floor or on a platform, and the cupbearer administered the liquid with a spoon, filling the cups of the diners. The craters were mainly made of ceramic but also in precious metals, and were modeled in different shapes according to the taste of the artist, although always maintaining a very wide mouth. The most common shapes are the column, chalice, bell and scroll kraters. The bell-shaped krater, typology represented by the piece under study, is differentiated by the inverted bell shape and by the short arched handles, oriented upwards and located in the upper half of the tank. In southern Italy and Sicily, the region known as Magna Graecia, there is a ceramic production imitating the Attic red-figured vases already at the beginning of the 5th century B.C. It is not known exactly how the Greek know-how reached Italy, although it was probably due to the emigration of Athenian craftsmen fleeing from the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.). In fact, the defeat of Athens by the Spartans led to the decline of the Attic production of red-figure pottery and, therefore, of its export, which undoubtedly spurred local Italian production. The first workshop established as such will appear around 440 in Metapontum, Lucania, and by the mid-4th century Magna Graecia production will be in full swing. However, the Italic workshops will gradually lose quality and disappear towards the end of the century. In the region of Apulia, north of the Gulf of Taranto and east of the Apennine Mountains, was located the main production center of Magna Graecia painted pottery. There, two parallel styles were developed within the technique of red figures: one called Simple Style and the other known as Ornamented. The first avoided using more colors than the basic red and black, and was mainly used for small vessels such as the bell krater. Its main representatives were the Painters of Sisyphus (act. 420-390 B.C.) and Tarporley (act. 400-375 B.C.). This first style will become more complicated with the passage of time, and by the middle of the 4th century BC it will be very similar to the Ornate style. The latter was preferably used for larger vessels, such as volute craters, amphorae, loutrophoroi and hydrias. The compositions of this style represented up to twenty figures, many of them floating, without a ground plane, and often organized in two or more registers. This second style was also characterized by the rich use of color, especially red, ochre and white. The great masters of the Ornate style were the Painters of Iliupersis (act. 375-350 BC), of Darius (act. 340-320 B.C. Red-figured pottery was one of the most important figurative styles of Greek pottery. It was developed in Athens around 520 B.C., and was used until the third century B.C. It replaced the previous predominant style of black-figure pottery after a few decades. The technical basis was the same in both cases, but in the red figures the coloring is inverted, the figures being highlighted on a dark background, as if they were illuminated by a theatrical light, following a more natural scheme. Painters working with black figures were forced to keep the motifs well separated from each other and to limit the complexity of the illustration. In contrast, the red-figure technique allowed greater freedom. Each figure was silhouetted against a black background, allowing painters to portray anatomical details with more accuracy and variety. The technique consisted of painting the motifs on the still wet piece, using a transparent varnish that, when fired, acquired an intense black hue. Therefore, the motifs were invisible before firing, which meant that the painters had to work entirely from memory, without being able to see their previous work. Once the piece was fired, the areas not covered by the glaze remained with the reddish tone of the clay, while the glazed, the "painted" ones, adopted a dense and shiny black color. Notes: - The piece includes authenticity certificate. - The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union) - If the piece is destined outside the European Union a substitution of the export permit should be requested, can take between 1-2 weeks maximum. - 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. #CollectorsFair25