Epichysis. Attica, Greece, 5th century BC.

Epichysis or aryballos. Attica, Greece, 5th century BC.
Red-figure pottery.
Provenance: Georges Savès collection.
Measurements: 9.8 x 7.8 x 7.8 cm.

Small ceramic vessel with a low body and discoid, with an elongated truncated cone-shaped neck, an elongated rim and a vertical handle that joins the shoulder to the lip. The decoration is mainly on the shoulder and the upper part of the body, made in red figure technique, where the details stand out in reserves of the natural color of the clay, complemented with motifs painted in black.
There is a schematic scene with stylized animal figures and vegetal or curvilinear elements of the palmette and volute type, in addition to a border of ovals in the upper zone. The style suggests an Attic-Minor production influenced by the red-figure ceramic workshops of the 5th century BC, probably intended for functional and decorative use, in domestic or votive contexts.

This piece comes from the collection of Georges Savès (1908-1985), a French numismatist and collector with a deep vocation for archaeological study. Heir to a family tradition of collecting, he devoted himself fully to historical and numismatic research since the 1950s, especially on Toulouse and Gallic coins. Throughout his life, he assembled an eclectic collection of archaeological, ethnographic and artistic pieces, enriched in 1966 with the acquisition of part of the Roger Bédiat collection. Author of specialized studies, his legacy remains a reference in the academic and patrimonial fields.