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LOT 0527
Boeotian Terracotta Horse Statuette
6TH CENTURY B.C.
4 3/8 in. (130 grams, 11.1 cm high).
In static stance with forelegs straight and head erect, applied harness detailing. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
Cf. similar item in the British Museum under accession no.1875,0309.12.
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AUCTIONS:
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Greek Gold Earrings with Female Heads
Hellenistic, 2nd-1st century B.C.Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £750
Each a hollow-formed female head with stephane to the brow, granulated collars flanking biconvex bulbs, tapering twisted shank curved to meet the gussetted loop above the head. 5.93 grams total, 25-28 mm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. -
Greek Campanian Black-Glazed Kernos
Late 4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,560
Comprising a round pedestal supporting four small offering pots, interspersed with four female face protomes; looped handle to the centre with parallel strokes in low-relief. 623 grams, 16 cm high
From the West German collection of H.W. Acquired from the De Mynter, Belgium, in 2011. with Gorny and Mosch, Munich, 3 June 2017, no.52. Private Portuguese R.M. collection. Accompanied by a previous catalogue information slip.
The kernos can be recognised by a series of small cups on the lip, with examples dating back to the Bronze Age. It was used to store offerings made to the gods, specifically in cults pertaining to Demeter and Persephone. The receptacles probably contained foodstuffs, or perhaps flowers, and a lamp was sometimes placed in the centre. Kernoses, such as this, were often carried in processions at the Eleusinian Mysteries (secret initiation rites celebrating the goddesses Demeter and Persephone) and were an important object for Greek religious life. Kernoses are thus closely related to the agrarian cult and to the myth of Persephone and Demeter, the goddess of fertility and agriculture. The myth is recounted in an Homeric Hymn (c. 650 B.C.) according to which Persephone, Demeter’s daughter, was seized by Hades, the king of the underworld, who brought her to his kingdom to make her his wife. Distraught, Demeter caused a terrible drought, which continued until Persephone returned to her mother from the underworld. Having consumed pomegranate seeds whilst she was in the Underworld, she was only able to be with her for a few months of the year. -
Hellenistic Silver Standing Figure
2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Bearded male wearing a himation held with his left hand, right hand open flat to support a patera (absent). 4.65 grams, 24 mm
Acquired 1960s-1990s. From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.
