21st Nov, 2025 13:00
Fine Antiquities & Ancient Art
73
AN ATTIC RED-FIGURED PELIKE, MANNER OF THE SABOUROFF PAINTER, CIRCA 450 BC, WITH A FEMALE FIGURE IN PENELOPE ICONOGRAPHY
€10,000
€20,000
A buyer’s premium of 30.00% (including VAT) applies to the hammer price of this lot if your bid is successful.
Published: Coins and Vases of Arthur Stone Dewing: A Memorial Exhibition, published by J. Peter Oleson und Diana Buitron, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 1971, no. 22.
Exhibited:
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, 1961-2002.
Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 11 March-15 April 1971, and 2002.
Expert’s note: The figure of the seated woman, her head inclined forward in a contemplative attitude and hand resting beneath the chin, closely parallels the iconography traditionally associated with Penelope, the faithful wife of Odysseus. This distinctive pose, emblematic of waiting and reflection, is well attested in Classical art, most famously on the Attic red-figured skyphos from Chiusi attributed to the Penelope Painter (fig. 1), as well as in sculptural adaptations such as the Greek marble from Persepolis. While absolute identification remains uncertain, the painter of the present pelike was clearly engaging with the same visual vocabulary that defined Penelope’s imagery in fifth-century Athens. The attribution to the Manner of the Sabouroff Painter and his circle underscores the diffusion of this expressive type within mid-Classical vase painting.
On the obverse, a woman sits on a stool to the right, facing left, wearing a chiton and a himation with a black border, her hair bound in a wide band. She rests her right elbow on her raised knee, her head inclined downward, her hand beneath her chin in a pensive pose. Before her stands a handmaid in a chiton, her hair in a sakkos, extending a fillet; a wreath hangs above. On the reverse, a draped youth stands facing left, holding a walking stick in his right hand, his hair bound with a fillet. A band of ovolo ornaments the neck.
Condition: Pristine condition with only minor wear and manufacturing irregularities. Minuscule flaking and rubbing to pigment, tiny chips to the foot ring, and expected minor soiling.
Provenance: The private collection of Arthur Stone Dewing, Boston, USA, and thence by descent to his daughter Mary Morain and her husband Lloyd. A private collection in the US, received as a gift from Lloyd Morain. Christie’s New York, 9 June 2011, lot 91, sold for USD 35,000 or approx. EUR 42,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing. An old inventory number to the base inscribed ‘4660-3’.
Arthur Stone Dewing (1880–1971) was an American professor, businessman, and specialist in corporate finance. A founder of the Harvard Business School, he helped develop the case study method and taught there as professor of finance from 1927 to 1933. Beyond academia, he headed several utility companies and served on publishing and investment boards. A member of the American and Royal Numismatic Societies, he also presided over the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. His noted collection of Greek coins is now on loan to the Fogg Art Museum.
Mary Morain (1911–1999) was a therapist, social reformer, and a leading voice in the American humanist movement. With her husband Lloyd Morain (1917–2010), she co-authored Humanism as the Next Step (1954), a widely influential introduction to secular humanism. She served as president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (now Humanists International), worked extensively in family planning and public health, and was active in civic reform efforts in San Francisco. Through her advocacy, she helped bring humanist principles into broader discussions of education, social justice, and global ethics.
Weight: 704 g
Dimension: Height 20.2 cm
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's London, 1 October 2014, lot 87
Price: GBP 68,500 or approx. EUR 120,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Attic red-figured pelike, circa 430 BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and similar technique. Note also the identical size (20.3 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 7 December 2022, lot 23
Price: GBP 75,600 or approx. EUR 98,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Attic red-figures Nolan Amphora, attributed to the Sabouroff Painter, circa 450 BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, similar technique, and related subject. Note the larger size (34 cm) and identical attribution.
Published: Coins and Vases of Arthur Stone Dewing: A Memorial Exhibition, published by J. Peter Oleson und Diana Buitron, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 1971, no. 22.
Exhibited:
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, 1961-2002.
Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 11 March-15 April 1971, and 2002.
Expert’s note: The figure of the seated woman, her head inclined forward in a contemplative attitude and hand resting beneath the chin, closely parallels the iconography traditionally associated with Penelope, the faithful wife of Odysseus. This distinctive pose, emblematic of waiting and reflection, is well attested in Classical art, most famously on the Attic red-figured skyphos from Chiusi attributed to the Penelope Painter (fig. 1), as well as in sculptural adaptations such as the Greek marble from Persepolis. While absolute identification remains uncertain, the painter of the present pelike was clearly engaging with the same visual vocabulary that defined Penelope’s imagery in fifth-century Athens. The attribution to the Manner of the Sabouroff Painter and his circle underscores the diffusion of this expressive type within mid-Classical vase painting.
On the obverse, a woman sits on a stool to the right, facing left, wearing a chiton and a himation with a black border, her hair bound in a wide band. She rests her right elbow on her raised knee, her head inclined downward, her hand beneath her chin in a pensive pose. Before her stands a handmaid in a chiton, her hair in a sakkos, extending a fillet; a wreath hangs above. On the reverse, a draped youth stands facing left, holding a walking stick in his right hand, his hair bound with a fillet. A band of ovolo ornaments the neck.
Condition: Pristine condition with only minor wear and manufacturing irregularities. Minuscule flaking and rubbing to pigment, tiny chips to the foot ring, and expected minor soiling.
Provenance: The private collection of Arthur Stone Dewing, Boston, USA, and thence by descent to his daughter Mary Morain and her husband Lloyd. A private collection in the US, received as a gift from Lloyd Morain. Christie’s New York, 9 June 2011, lot 91, sold for USD 35,000 or approx. EUR 42,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing. An old inventory number to the base inscribed ‘4660-3’.
Arthur Stone Dewing (1880–1971) was an American professor, businessman, and specialist in corporate finance. A founder of the Harvard Business School, he helped develop the case study method and taught there as professor of finance from 1927 to 1933. Beyond academia, he headed several utility companies and served on publishing and investment boards. A member of the American and Royal Numismatic Societies, he also presided over the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. His noted collection of Greek coins is now on loan to the Fogg Art Museum.
Mary Morain (1911–1999) was a therapist, social reformer, and a leading voice in the American humanist movement. With her husband Lloyd Morain (1917–2010), she co-authored Humanism as the Next Step (1954), a widely influential introduction to secular humanism. She served as president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (now Humanists International), worked extensively in family planning and public health, and was active in civic reform efforts in San Francisco. Through her advocacy, she helped bring humanist principles into broader discussions of education, social justice, and global ethics.
Weight: 704 g
Dimension: Height 20.2 cm
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's London, 1 October 2014, lot 87
Price: GBP 68,500 or approx. EUR 120,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Attic red-figured pelike, circa 430 BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and similar technique. Note also the identical size (20.3 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 7 December 2022, lot 23
Price: GBP 75,600 or approx. EUR 98,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Attic red-figures Nolan Amphora, attributed to the Sabouroff Painter, circa 450 BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, similar technique, and related subject. Note the larger size (34 cm) and identical attribution.
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Auction: Fine Antiquities & Ancient Art, 21st Nov, 2025
With our auction Fine Antiquities & Ancient Art on November 21, 2025, Galerie Zacke opens a new chapter.
After decades of specialization in the arts of Asia —from Japan, China, and Southeast Asia through Afghanistan and the Eurasian steppes to the Arabian Peninsula—we now take a step westward. This premiere is dedicated to the great cultures of antiquity: from the Levant and Egypt across the Mediterranean to Italy, the Balkans, and the Maghreb. A circle closes—along the ancient trade routes once traversed by conquerors from Alexander the Great to Genghis Khan. Learn more.
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