Etruscan Bronze Bow Brooch

With domed foot and short stem supporting a broad bowl with carination below the rim and two lateral ledge handles; bands of painted concentric rings to the inner face in black and red, similar to the shoulder above panels of vertical stripes, arrows and other motifs; median Maltese cross to one face and bull's eye motif to the other. 685 grams, 21 cm wide



With Sotheby's London, antiquities sale, 17 May 1983, lot 132. Acquired from the above by Mr Leinonen, by descent to his son, Stan Leinonen. On loan to the Detroit Institute of Arts 6 December 1983-24 April, 2019. On view in Hallway East of Rivera Court circa 1989 and again in European Medieval and Renaissance in the 2000s.

Engraved with a goddess (Aphrodite?), facing right, peplos around her hips, her left elbow resting on a column and her left hand behind her body; the right hand outstretched and holding a sceptre; a snake(?) before. 2.52 grams, 22 mm



Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Important North West London collection.

In the famous Greek myth of the Gorgon, Aphrodite, jealous of their beauty, placed a curse on Medusa and her sisters, transforming their hair into snakes and making their gaze turn anyone into stone.

Black burnished ceramic urn with conical lower body, two flared loop handles, bell-shaped upper body and flat everted rim; band of incised chevrons to the equator, horizontal linear bands and ropework key patterns; one handle restored. 2 kg, 25 cm high



Ex private Orange Country collection. with Ancient Resources Auctions, Auction 34, 14 September 2014, lot 246. Accompanied by a detailed collector's catalogue pages including description and photograph.

Such urns were often deposited with the cremated remains inside, one handle broken off (perhaps part of the funerary rites) and in some case a bronze crested helmet placed over the top of the urn.