An Apulian red-figured terracotta chalice krater, c. 350 BC, with decoration on side A: symposion scene. Young man lying on a kline (banqueting bed) playing cottabe (a game of skill consisting in spinning a cup around his index finger). Facing him, a woman dressed in a tunic and trousers. She carries a situla and plays with the young man sitting down. Eros above the scene and a naked man carrying a torch and a thyrse to the right. Temple pediment in the field. Side B: Naked young man standing, holding cistus and thyrse, facing draped young woman seated, holding phiale and twig, h. 43.8 cm

Note: without being definitive, and at least concerning the period of production for this crater: particularly in view of the type of scene, the arrangement of the figures, or the choice and treatment of certain garments, the painting work should be compared to that of the Painter of Hippolytus or to a member of the Berlin-Branca Group. One detail could help to refine a more precise attribution: the two faces seen from three quarters of the young man seated and the young woman in trousers in front of him. The rendering is unusual and in the same hand for both. The elements of the face are very grouped, the jaws strong, and the looks concentrated. A rather singular attitude emerges and provides a certain emotional intensity between the two protagonists, probably resulting from the game being played. 

Provenance: private collection, Neuchâtel, 

ex-collection H. and P. Payot, Clarens, by succession.