An Attic Black-figured Column Krater with Amazonomachy, attributed to the Group of Faina 75, circa 525-475 B.C.

one side painted with Herakles and a warrior in full armor each fighting an Amazon, the other with Dionysos holding a drinking horn and flanked by satyrs and maenads.

Karl Ernst Osthaus (1874–1921), Hagen, Germany
Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany, acquired in 1922 with the rest of the Osthaus Collection and de-accessioned on November 11th, 1963
private collection, northern Germany, received as a gift in late 1963
by descent to the present owner

Folkwang Museum, Essen, 1922-1963

Dietrich von Bothmer, Amazons in Greek Art, Oxford, 1957, pl. 31.4
Beazley Archive Pottery Database, no. 17085 (www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/85D21C66-D62D-4E4C-9118-8E9643350787)

Repaired from one large and several medium-sized fragments, the latter concentrated on the lower part of the vase. There are no visible joins across the figural panels. There is extensive repainting in black on the lower part of the vessel along the joins as well as possibly around the neck. The clay background overall is worn. On the figural scenes, the black figures were raised above the worn background, which was therefore extensively painted to even out the surface. The figures are generally in good condition, only the limbs of the amazons which would have originally been covered post-firing in added white (now lost) have been carefully over painted in black. The ghosts of the shield emblems, formerly applied in added white are still visible. The corners of handle plates and perimeter of the inner and outer edges of upper rim have small areas of chips and abrasions, many of them restored in painted plaster; some of these restorations have aged and decayed. The top of the rim and the handle plates are quite dirty. Minor chips and abrasions on the body. Two numbers are painted on the underside of the foot "911" in large numbers in blue and "K 327" which appears to be a museum accession number. The interior of the vase is repainted in many areas and fitted with five irregularly shaped modern inserts, some of them still covered in decaying fabric. These inserts were added in modern times to hold up a still extant removable modern copper vessel inside the vase, once used and possibly to be used again, as a flowerpot. The copper vessel will be sold together with the present lot.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

For a similar scene on a neck amphora by the Group of Faina 75 see Christie's, New York, December 11th, 2009, no. 93. For a column krater by the same Group see Sotheby's, New York, June 7th, 2012, no. 13.

On Karl Osthaus as industrialist, art collector, owner of a private museum, and a promoter of avant-garde architecture see Herta Hesse-Frielinghaus et al. Karl Ernst Osthaus. Leben u. Werk, Recklinghausen, 1971, and https://dictionaryofarthistorians.org/osthausk.htm.