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Black-Figure Neck Amphora

NationalityGreek-Attic, Europe
Datecirca 510–500 BCE
MediumTerracotta
DimensionsOverall: 17 15/16 in. (45.6 cm)
Sheet: 17 15/16 in. (45.6 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Archer M. Huntington Museum Fund and the James R. Dougherty, Jr. Foundation, 1980.31
Collection AreaAntiquities
Object number1980.31
On View
On view
Locations
  • exhibition  BMA, Gallery, A2
Label Text
Athena, the goddess of wisdom, drives a four-horse chariot. The overlapping horses are laboriously rendered with incisions. Athena was also the goddess of defensive warfare, which might connect her with the battle scene on the other side of the vase. Two hoplites (armored foot soldiers) advance over a third who kneels. The warrior on the left carries a Boeotian shield with scooped indentations that allow him to thrust his weapon more effectively while protecting himself.
ProvenanceLikely acquired in Italy between 1820–30, perhaps in England or Italy by 1841 by Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton [1790–1851], 2nd Marquess of Northampton, Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire, England; by descent to Charles Douglas Compton [1816-1877], 3rd Marquess of Northampton; by descent to William Compton [1818–1897], 4th Marquess of Northampton; by descent to William George Spencer Scott Compton [1851–1913], 5th Marquess of Northampton; by descent to William Bingham Compton [1885–1978], 6th Marquess of Northampton; by descent to Spencer Douglas David Compton [b.1946], 7th Marquess of Northampton; sold (Christie’s, London) July 2nd, 1980, The Castle Ashby Vases, lot 91
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