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LOT 0049
Cypriot Limestone Head of a Goddess
CIRCA 2ND-3RD CENTURY B.C.
8 1/4 in. (1.11 kg total, 21 cm high including stand).
Carved in the round, head of a female wearing her gown over the top of her head; sombre facial features and elongated neck, the hair dressed in radiating segments; mounted on a custom-made stand. [No Reserve]
Provenancewith Bonham's, 22 April 1999, no.97.
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.
Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonham's catalogue pages.
Cf. similar female face on a statue of Aphrodite in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, under accession number 74.51.2464.
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Minoan Bronze Statuette of a Lady
Middle Period, circa 1700-1450 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,560
With a small, stylised face with detailed eyes, nose and mouth; right hand raised to hold a child; wearing a flounced skirt with double belt; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 499 grams total, 16.5 cm high including stand
British private collection, acquired by 2000. 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.
In the Dictean Cave in Greece, many votive statuettes of this type were found. The flounced skirt is characteristic of Minoan women's dress, and it was lavishly decorated in folds of different colours. It could be worn with or without a narrow corselet, but in both cases exposing the breast. The exposed breast was connected to the cult of the mother goddess, and fertility, an element here reinforced by the presence of the suckling child. -
Greek Italic Silver Fibula
5th-4th century B.C.Estimate: £500 - 700 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
Segmented body with central filigree wiring, collared knops to three corners, integral coiled pin and trapezoidal catchplate with lotus flower engraved to the outer face, loop with stylised serpentine head to base. 13.5 grams, 63 mm
Acquired in Europe before 1994. European collection. -
Greek Silver Ring with the Goddess Artemis Standing
4th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £416
With ellipsoid bezel, intaglio standing female figure with distaff and bow or staff, possibly Artemis; repaired. 10.36 grams, 20.60 mm overall, 17.50 x 19.12 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q, USA 8, Europe 17.49, Japan 16)
Formerly in an old collection formed in the 1970s. Ex Dutch gentleman. Property of a London gentleman.
This is classical Greek type ring dating to 4th century B.C., and the bezel shows a goddess standing naked. The position of the goddess recalls that of Hera or Aphrodite, in the Salting Group (Boardman, 2001, no.733), but the simple dress of the figure with the chiton seems to refer to Diana holding a hunting spear.