Inspired by a terracotta alabastron (perfume vase) attributed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and dated to around 510 BC. The ancient original belongs to the circle known as the Group of the Paidikos Alabastra.
The vase is decorated with a delicate sequence of diminishing palmettes and bears the inscription “Hipparchos is beautiful.” This kalos inscription may refer to Hipparchos, son of the Athenian tyrant Peisistratos, who was assassinated in 514 BC by Harmodios and Aristogeiton—figures later celebrated as symbols of Athenian freedom.
The Group of the Paidikos Alabastra comprises red-figure painters active between 520–500 BC, specialising almost exclusively in the alabastron shape. The group takes its name from the potter Paidikos, who signed an alabastron found at Eretria (now in the Musée du Louvre, inv. CA 487). Related works are known from Athens, Boeotia, Delphi, Eretria, Miletus, southern Italy, and as far west as Spain, reflecting the wide circulation of these elegant perfume vessels in antiquity.
Dimensions: H16,0cm; max L 6,2; rim D 4,5 cm