About the collection
The collection comes from the estate of the author and former director of the Herzog August Library, Erhart Kästner. The Kestner Museum acquired this collection in 1966.
The collection, whose objects can be attributed without exception to the Hellenic cultural sphere, has its pronounced focal points in vascular ceramics and small sculpture/plastic. The 36 clay vessels cover the period from the Late Bronze Age of Crete (Late Minoan II B, 1500-1450 BC) to the 20th century, whereby these late objects are of course not antique originals, but two imitations or forgeries. The majority of the vessels date between the 8th and 4th centuries BC and are mainly of the Attic and Corinthian styles. A regional exception is the Apulian bell crater of the 'Wolfenbüttel Painter'. It is the most important object in the Kästner collection, as it is the eponymous piece of this vase painter. The 31 objects, which belong to the genre of small sculpture, are from the Archaic to Hellenistic period. Their origin is Attica and Boeotia. (AVS)