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Details
LOT 0524
Etruscan Globular Pendant with Birds' Heads
CIRCA 8TH-7TH CENTURY B.C.
2 3/4 in. (113 grams total, 69 mm including stand).
Comprising a spherical body with biconvex collar, lateral arms ending in stylised bird-heads, pierced lobe above; mounted on a custom-made display stand. [No Reserve]
Provenance
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.
Literature
Cf. Bietti-Sestieri, A.M. & Macnamara, E., Prehistoric Metal Artefacts from Italy (3500–720 BC) in the British Museum, London, 2008, nos.533-535, for similar.
Footnotes
These globular pendants surmounted by two opposed birds heads belong to the early Iron Age phase of the Etruscan-Villanovan culture. The heads are those of aquatic birds, whose motif is often repeated on the embossed belt-cuirasses decorating the waists of high-status men and women.
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