Circa 340-325 BC An Apulian red-figure ceramic lekanis; red-figure lid with two female profile heads between palmettes and stylised volutes; the ‘Ladies of Fashion’ with ornate saccoi leaving a chignon projecting at rear, a spiked stephane, earrings and necklaces; the lid’s knob handle with radiating strokes on top; the black-glazed dish with an inset flange to receive the lid, set on a high hollow foot; added white ‘gilded’ with dilute brown glaze for the details of the headdresses and the jewellery. For reference see: Green, J. R., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, USA 22, Philadelphia 1 (1986), Plate 29 (many examples). Kranz, P. and R. Lullies, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Deutschland 38, Kassel 2 (1975), Tafel 81, 2-3 (small lekanis with female heads). Romanelli, P., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Italia 6, Lecce 2 (1979), IV Dr, Tavola 53, 1 (larger, but similar shape and decorative scheme), Tavola 56, 11-14 (small examples with female heads and palmettes). Trendall, A. D., Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily: a Handbook, London, Thames and Hudson, 1989, 227, 2 and 4 (female heads on vases of the Darius-Underworld workshop). Size: L:100mm / W:130mm; 185g Provenance: Property of a central London Gallery; formerly in a South English estate collection; acquired in the 1990s from Andre de Munter, Brussels, Belgium; previously in an old European collection.