14 - Etruscan bucchero amphora of the Nikosthenic type with an animal frieze. 600–550 BCE. H 33.5 cm, W 29.4 cm, ø 23.1 cm. Large wine vessel with a globular body, a concave-cut neck, wide, openwork band handles, and a profiled trumpet foot. Between two rows of vertical incisions is an animal frieze featuring three winged creatures on each side, including a sphinx, a doe, and a griffin. Comes with a copy of the invoice! The neck, along with the two handles, is broken and has been reattached; the foot is partially reconstructed; the vessel is otherwise intact with an unbroken body. Provenance: Formerly in the collection of A. M., Ascona / Amsterdam, acquired in 1987 from Robin Symes Limited, London. This typical Etruscan amphora form with wide band handles originated in the 7th century BCE using the impasto technique. Later, its popularity as a bucchero variant was so great that the Attic potter and workshop owner Nikosthenes began producing a black-figure imitation as early as 530 BCE, even though production in Etruria had already ceased. Presumably intended as an export item, it continued to be produced using the red-figure technique until the beginning of the Persian Wars.