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LOT 0100
Etruscan Carnelian Scarab with Hercules at a Fountain in Gold Ring
3RD CENTURY B.C.
7/8 in. (5.73 grams, 22.52 mm overall, 18.68 x 16.58 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)).
Hoop made from D-section wire with coils to the shoulders, scarab bezel with carapace detailing and intaglio of a standing nude figure of Hercules holding a club and amphora at a stream, enclosed by a roped border.
ProvenanceAcquired on the UK art market.
Private collection, England.
See for comparison, Boardman, J. and Vollenweider, M-L., Catalogue of the Engraved Gems and Finger Rings, I: Greek and Etruscan, Oxford, 1978, items 220 and 228; Boardman, J., Intaglios and Rings. Greek, Etruscan and Eastern from a Private Collection, London, 1975, no.150; Pannuti, U., Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. La collezione glittica, p.53, item 32; Cristofani, M. and Martelli, M. (eds.), L'oro degli Etruschi, Novara, 1983, p.240, no.270, for the mounting.
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LOT 0100
Etruscan Carnelian Scarab with Hercules at a Fountain in Gold Ring
Estimate £1,500 - 2,000€1,740 - 2,320 (for guidance only)$2,030 - 2,700 (for guidance only)
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Greek Bronze Bird
Geometric, 8th-6th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Modelled in the round with triangular fantail, lateral bulb eyes, pierced transversely at the chest for attachment. 19.8 grams, 45 mm
Acquired by a Swiss family in the mid-1980s to late 1990s, thence by descent. Private collection, Switzerland, since the late 1990s. -
Large Greek Gold Bead Pendant
Circa 3rd-2ndcentury B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £351
Square in section with crosshatching to each face, hatched bulb with domed cap and loop with granulated edges. 4.79 grams, 50mm
From the London collection of the late Mr S.M., 1969-1999. -
Large Greek Red-Figure Skyphos with Owl
South Italian, 5th-4th century B.C.Estimate: £2,500 - 3,500 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,350
With mammiform body, pedestal base and two loop handles; each side with a facing image of an owl between laurel fronds. 239 grams, 17.5 cm
Swiss private collection, assembled in the 1960s-1970s. Private collection, acquired in 2013. Accompanied by a thermoluminescence analysis report no.N126a14 from Oxford Authentication. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12854-241751.
Bubo was the holy beloved magical owl of the goddess Athena, and it was a common subject from the Greek ceramists. The owl-skyphos, originally produced in 5th century Athens, was extremely popular and was exported from Athens to other parts of the Greek world, including southern Italy and Etruria. Local imitations have been excavated at Corinth, and during the fourth century, or perhaps even slightly earlier, skyphoi similar to those from Athens were produced in Apulia and Etruria.