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LOT 0082
Etruscan Bronze Statuette with Offering
4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
5 1/4 in. (295 grams total, 13.3 cm including stand).
Modelled in the round as a figure of a lar standing with the left hand raised with palm facing forwards, right arm extending forwards and holding a patera in the hand; wearing a close-fitting short-sleeved tunic with a folded and draped mantle above; the face with aquiline nose, lentoid eyes and a small pursed mouth and with a loose-fitting cap retaining the hair; mounted on a custom-made display stand. [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.
Cf. Boucher, S., Recherches sur les Bronzes Figurés de Gaule Pré-Romaine et Romaine, Rome, 1976, item 22, for a more naturalistic treatment of a similar subject; also an item in the British Museum under accession no.1824,0437.1; Thomson de Grummond, N., & Simon, E., The Religion of the Etruscans, Austin, 2006, fig.p.94, for similar although of later age.
FootnotesThe gesture is typical for making sacrifice. The curved hem of the garment, which originally could be seen both behind and in front of the left leg, shows that this is a tebenna, a typical Etruscan male dress, distinguished by its semi-circular shape from the rectangular Greek himation.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Cypriot Grey Ware Pottery Bowl
Iron Age, Cypro-Geometric, 950-850 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
Broad shallow body with disc base, thick rim with pierced lug handle; repaired. 635 grams, 24.5 cm wide
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.
Important Cypro-Geometric ceramic types include white-painted and bichrome wares, often decorated with geometric motifs and showing inventive shapes; slightly later, a distinctive black-on-red wares was developed on Cyprus, partly as a result of contact with the Levant. -
Indo-Greek Terracotta Forger's Mould Group
Circa 2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
Group of discoid clay moulds for casting contemporary counterfeit coins. 47 grams total, 20-29 mm
Private collection formed in the 1990s. Acquired from a central London gallery. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman. -
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Monumental Greek Apulian Red-Figure Calyx-Krater
Late 4th century B.C.Estimate: £18,000 - 24,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £10,000
With elegant fluted body, drum foot and elaborate up-swung handles, displaying polychrome panels on both sides, between a laurel wreath below the rim and a band of Greek meander motif; Side A: the hero Bellerophon riding Pegasus, wearing a Thessalian hat (petasos), depicted nude except for a cloak fastened at the centre of the neck by a round clasp, the hero towering above the other two mythological characters beneath him: Princess Filinoe, on the left, crowned and dressed in a long chiton, and King Iobates of Lycia, dressed in Persian fashion with a long sleeved red tunic worn under a long dress, the field with a representation of an altar, two palm branches over a volute krater, a shield, a javelin, a lotus flower, and above the hero a hanging shield and two clamydes; Side B: figure of a young beardless man, wrapped in a large cloak and holding a staff, with windows and floral scrolls on the background. 7.6 kg, 56 cm high
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. From the family collection of Mr S.A., Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection since the late 1990s. 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.12068-218200.
The decoration is very different on the two sides: on the main one, the painter has created a large mythological scene as if it was a summary. The scene comprising the famous hero Bellerophon riding Pegasus, the winged horse, flying above Iobates and his daughter (who will become the hero's wife). The king sent Bellerophon to perform impossible mission, among which the best known is the fight against the Chimera (monster with the body of a lion and a goat, with a snake's tail and two heads, one of a lion and the other of a goat).
