Cypriot Red Polished Ware Bowl Group

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.

Comprising: bust of a female (possibly Aphrodite) with diadem; hollow-formed mask of Silenus; a bearded head of Zeus or Poseidon, possibly not ancient. 772 grams total, 7.9-12.8 cm



From the collection of Jacques Schotte (1928-2007), Belgium, 1950s onwards. Acquired Bonhams, London, 29 April 2009 (part). Acquired from a Cambridgeshire gentleman. The comic actor from the Moonen collection, Belgium, 1980s; then Archea, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Property of a North London collector. Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages and invoice. Accompanied by a previous owner's certificate of authenticity.

Squat unglazed vessel with conical body, narrow shoulder, broad tubular neck and everted rim, two strap handles; painted with radiating segments to rim, ring-and-dot motifs to neck and shoulder, horizontal bands. 341 grams, 14 cm wide



Private American collection. Acquired from Bonhams, London, 29 April 2009, no.341 (part). From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages and original lot tag.