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LOT 0056
Etruscan Terracotta Alabastron
6TH CENTURY B.C.
5 1/8 in. (87 grams, 13.1 cm).
Capsule-shaped with cylindrical neck and flange rim decorated with pellets; solid coloured band to the shoulder above a frieze of racing hounds; band of pellets below; broad strap handle beneath the rim.
ProvenanceEx Ancienne collection, W. Hartmann de Geneva.
European private collection.
Cf. British Museum reference number 1899,1229.6, for a vessel of similar form in glass.
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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Heavy Cypriot Pottery Brazier
Circa 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,300
Tubular terracotta form with crenellated rim, four inward-facing lugs each with a hole beneath, inner ledge, lateral vents and square aperture at the base; hatched texture to the rim; two lateral ledge handles. 12.1 kg, 39.5 cm wide
Ex Stella Pitt Rivers collection, Dorset Museum, UK. Acquired from Sotheby's, London, 13 May 1980, no.160. with Bonhams, London, 15 October 2008, no.139. with Bonhams, London, 29 April 2009, no.340. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages and original lot ticket. -
Greek Silver Medical Implement with Snake Handle
4th-3rd century B.C.Estimate: £400 - 600 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £200
A silver and copper-alloy medical instrument, oval in shape, the handle formed as a snake with shallow hatched pattern on the body representing scales, stylised rendering of the snake's head. 68 grams, 25 cm long
Fair condition.
Acquired mid 1980s to early 1990s. Private family collection formed in London, UK. Accompanied by a metal test assessment number 182971/HM1456 from an Oxford specialist.
The use of this spatula (probe) for medical assessment can be confirmed by its snake-shaped handle, evidently a reference to the god Asklepios, whose symbol was a staff with a serpent wrapped around it. Such implements, called 'ἀπυρομήλη', were used in the Graeco-Persian world. The survival of the handle in this example makes it a rare find. -
Archaic Greek Ceramic Model Boat
Circa 600-480 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,560
Modelled in the round as a miniature flat-bottomed boat with sternpost and three thwarts, one supporting the reclining figure of the boatman; supplied with a custom-made display stand. 728 grams total, 24.5 cm wide including stand
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. Accompanied by an old identification tag. Accompanied by an original thermoluminescence analysis report from Oxford Authentication.
A series of ship models, today preserved in the Metropolitan Museum and in the British Museum, depict in considerable detail the features of contemporary vessels, including the helmsman sitting in the bow, the spurs of the ships and the raised stern. All of the preserved ship models come from Amathus, indicating the importance of the site as a maritime centre. Our model could come from the same area. This clay model shows a man who comfortably sits on the back of the ship: we do not know his role and his activity, but – as observed by professor M.A. Mcintosh, he is part of a theōriā, a state pilgrim (theōros). Certainly, he represents the helmsman, the kubernētēs, i.e. the governor who directs the ship.
