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LOT 0578
Cypriot White Painted Ware Jug
MIDDLE BRONZE AGE, CIRCA 1800-1650 B.C.
6 7/8 in. (256 grams, 17.5 cm).
Comprising a spherical body with tall tubular neck and U-section pouring spout, large strap handle to the rear and small loop to the neck; panels of hatched painted ornament. [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.
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AUCTIONS:
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Hellenistic Gold Mount Pair
2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Comprising discoid cells each with shallow sidewall and flange rim, granule collar with radiating clusters. 1.62 grams total, 19 mm each
From a late Japanese specialist collector, 1970-2000s. -
Greek Silver Fibula
5th-4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Comprising an ellipsoid bow with lateral knops (one absent) and applied collars, longitudinal band of applied filigree braid, knop finial with collar, perpendicular two-coil spring and long pin; footplate with incised saltire with gammadion crossbar, square catchplate with incised gammadion. 13.58 grams, 58 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. From the family collection of Mr S.A., Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection since the late 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.
