Cypriot Bichrome Ware Horse Model

Possibly depicting Ganymede or Paris, wearing a soft Phrygian cap with everted brim, the hair swept back from the face; almond-shaped eyes with pronounced eyelids, straight nose and fleshy lips; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 1.2 kg total, 25.3 cm high including stand



Acquired early 20th century. From the collection of Count Henri d'Epinay (1940-2017), Longuenesse, France. Accompanied by a copy of a French cultural passport no.196149. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11824-207736.

The terracotta sculpture appears to have similarities with other Tarentine heads from the early Hellenistic Period. A marble head from Taranto, datable to the end of the 4th century B.C., presents similar elements. The visible character is clearly attributable to Graeco-Roman mythology. The only clue regarding the identity of the head is provided by the Phrygian cap, which narrows down the identification to few characters from Greek mythology: the Trojan prince Ganymede, abducted by Zeus for his beauty and named by him the cupbearer of the gods, or the Trojan prince Paris. There are many representations of Ganymede in a Phrygian cap (Hakanen, 2022, plates 6,12a). However, the third possibility is that the sculpture represents Attis, lover of the goddess Cybele.

Comprising the bottom part of a cup-skyphos or pyxis, decorated with concentric circles in red and black, the internal part painted with the image of a young athlete, wrapped in a short chlamys and leaning upon his staff, the ground represented as a concave space. 95 grams, 12.5 cm



Acquired in Europe before 1990. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11810-206516.

The everyday life of ancient Greeks is well represented on the Attic red figure paintings. The short cloak (chlamys) is the favourite garment for the men and the hair of the younger men is more often shown cropped than in the black Attic figure paintings. The nakedness of youths exercising at the palaistra could well have been an important source of inspiration for the Greek artists who were becoming increasingly aware of the possibilities to represent the physiology of subtle movement in paintings. The Thaliarchos painter is generally recognised as the artist of the tops of some powder-box pyxides, although it is not excluded that he was actively painting various types of vessels. The type of ground and the way in which the foot of the man is worked can support the thesis that the fragment is from his workshop.

Keeled bow with central bulb, integral pin and large, square catch plate. 55 grams, 95 mm



From the family collection of a Surrey gentleman since before 1960.

The function of this type of fibula was utilitarian and decorative: they were used for woollen clothing (Herodotus V, 87) and they have been found in houses, tombs and as votive offerings in sanctuaries. This typology was introduced in South Italy by the Greeks, and was widespread in the Magna Graecia. Like all female fibulae, it functioned as a clothing fastener, usually worn as a pair on each shoulder.