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Miniature wine jug (chous) depicting two boys boxing
Greek
Classical Period
about 425 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Red Figure technique
Dimensions
Overall: 8 x 6.8 cm (3 1/8 x 2 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Catharine Page Perkins Fund
Accession Number95.53
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
DescriptionTwo nude youths engaged in a boxing match. Both youths wear wreaths on their heads. The scene is framed by two short columns/turnposts.
The turnposts indicate that the scene is set in the palaistra. The wreaths they were indicate that they might be taking part in a festival contest.
Small choes or wine jugs were given to children at the yearly festival of the Anthesteria at Athens for their first sampling of wine; as the child grew older, so too did the size of the chous increase
The turnposts indicate that the scene is set in the palaistra. The wreaths they were indicate that they might be taking part in a festival contest.
Small choes or wine jugs were given to children at the yearly festival of the Anthesteria at Athens for their first sampling of wine; as the child grew older, so too did the size of the chous increase
ProvenanceSaid to be from Athens [see note 1]. By 1885, Alphonse van Branteghem (b. 1844 – d. 1911), Brussels, Belgium [see note 2]; May 30-June 1,1892, van Branteghem sale Hôtel Drouot, Paris, lot 140 to Edward Perry Warren (b. 1860 – d. 1928), London and Rome; 1895, sold by Warren to the MFA for $29,857.37 [see note 3]. (Accession Date: January 1, 1895)
NOTES:
[1] Van Branteghem sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris (May 30-June 1, 1892), lot 140.
[2] According to an annotated drawing thought to be by Ludwig Pollak (b. 1868 – d. 1943), according to Adolf Greifenhagen in Alte Zeichnungen nach Unbekannten Griechischen Vasen (1976) pp. 8-9. For the annotated drawing see “63. Attisch rotfigurige Vasen (Vasen identifiziert, nicht im ARV) Alphabetisch nach Standorten; am Schluß: derzeitiger Aufbewahrungsort unbekannt” (online), German Archaeological Institute, Rome, plate A-VII-63-018.
[3] This figure is the total price for MFA accession nos. 95.9-95.174.
NOTES:
[1] Van Branteghem sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris (May 30-June 1, 1892), lot 140.
[2] According to an annotated drawing thought to be by Ludwig Pollak (b. 1868 – d. 1943), according to Adolf Greifenhagen in Alte Zeichnungen nach Unbekannten Griechischen Vasen (1976) pp. 8-9. For the annotated drawing see “63. Attisch rotfigurige Vasen (Vasen identifiziert, nicht im ARV) Alphabetisch nach Standorten; am Schluß: derzeitiger Aufbewahrungsort unbekannt” (online), German Archaeological Institute, Rome, plate A-VII-63-018.
[3] This figure is the total price for MFA accession nos. 95.9-95.174.