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LOT 0015
Cypriot Limestone Bull Statue
CYPRO-ARCHAIC I, 750-600 B.C.
9 1/2 in. (1.29 kg total, 24 cm including stand).
Carved in the round as an advancing bull with its tail placed between the hindlegs, thick fur to the throat; the fill between the legs with traces of cross-hatching in red pigment; old collector's label '477' to flange base; mounted on an old wooden collector's stand with painted numeral '193' to one face. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceBase and collection numbers suggesting it may have been deaccessioned from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Joseph Klein collection, formed in New York between 1941-1980, thence by descent.
with Bonhams, London, 24 October 2012, no.3.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
L.P. di Cesnola, A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, vol. I, Boston, 1885, pl. 98.
LiteratureCf. Hastings, E.A., The Sculpture from the Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqâra 1964-76, London, 1997, pl. LV, for a bull or bull calf statue associated with the Apis cult.
FootnotesThis possibly represents a bull or bull calf associated with the Apis cult.
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AUCTIONS:
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Greek Chalcidian Black-Figure Amphora with Heracles and Nemean Lion
Circa 650-575 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £45,500
With two figural scenes: Side A: the first of the canonical labours of Heracles, the fight against the Nemean lion - in the centre the hero standing over the lion, strangling it with his left arm while thrusting his sword into its neck; two other standing figures witness the fight - on the right Athena, fully armed and ready to defend Heracles with her lance, and to the left Hermes, recognisable by his hat (petasos), winged boots and the caduceus; Side B: a nude horseman, holding his lance and accompanied by his dog, walking towards a king seated on his throne, holding a sceptre in his left hand; on the far right, a standing woman, probably the king's wife; a sphinx under the throne and two flying birds; some restoration. 3.1 kg, 43.5 cm
Some restoration, in general in good condition.
Ex German private collection. with Hampel Kunst Auction, Munich, 2012, no.867. Private European collection, thence by family descent. 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 a search certificate number no.12069-218134.
The shape is typical of the period, and is decorated with black-figured technique, in which the figures were silhouetted in black slip on a reddish clay ground, and linear elements were incised with a needle, with additional details painted with white and cherry red-slip. The amphora seems to belong to one of the sub-types of the ‘Pseudo-Chalcidian’ group (the Poliphemus group), derived from the main Chalcidian series -
Greek Bronze Handled Mirror
Hellenistic, 2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £585
Comprising a broad disc with raised rim to one face, pelta-shaped junction developing to a balustered handle with acorn finial. 194 grams, 24 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. -
Minoan Black Stone Vessel
AM II-MHIB/IIA, circa 30th-19th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Substantial carved mortar with narrow base and biconvex body; heavily chipped. 2.1 kg, 13 cm
From 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.
The vessel corresponds to the Warren type 28, with similar Egyptian parallels and correspondent typologies, with small differences on the edges (see Karetsou et al., 2000, nos.15a and 19a).
