Phoenix Ancient Art S.A.

This handle is composed of various elements cast using the lost wax process and soldered together; it probably belonged to an oinochoe of the Schnabelkanne type. Its remarkable state of conservation enables us to admire the great artistic skills of the carver, especially in the execution of the two figures, but also in the general equilibrium of the object.

The decoration is particularly rich: the lower attachment of the handle is composed of a medallion with a satyr, palmettes and volutes; the exterior of the handle is decorated with imbricated lotus buds (?). A male torso (the man is bearded but dressed in a feminine peplos!) holding two circular plates with a human face in relief is modeled on the upper attachment. The figure of the satyr - one of Dionysos followers par excellence - can be explained by the close relation between the oinochoe (the wine jug most frequently used) and the symposium (banquet) sphere, but the presence of the man dressed as a woman is enigmatic, as are the two faces held in those two hands.

In the visual arts, no exact parallels are known for this statuette, but the Attic ceramics of the first half of the 5^th century provide a range of Dionysian procession images where bearded men, dressed as women and/or equipped with feminine attributes (umbrellas, musical instruments) appear: scholars proposed several interpretations for these scenes, but none of them is unanimously accepted.

They could be images from the poet Anacreon (Sappho’s companion), of men dressed according to the newest Eastern fashion (Lydian) or, after the most recent interpretation, of the only way men could share in the Dionysian processions (in Attic iconography, Dionysos is often followed by satyrs, meanads or women, but very seldom by men).

FRONTISI-DUCROUX F. - LISSARAGUE F., De l’ambiguité à l’ambivalence, un parcours dyonisiaque, in Annali dell' Istituto orientale di Napoli (AION) 5, 1983, pp. 11-32 (with all previous bibliography).