Graeco-Roman Bronze Ring with Bust of Athena

Miniature skyphos with loop handles to the rim, painted horizontal bands to sidewall and vertical slashes; supplied with old collector's record card. 4.46 grams, 40 mm



From the collection of the late Bernard C. Pickard, Hampshire, UK, the owner of Bernard C. Pickard Antiquities, which closed in 1987, he had been collecting since the mid 1950s.

Bernard Pickard was a close friend of Richard Hattatt, the renowned author of several books on ancient brooches. Hattatt acknowledges in his first book, Ancient & Romano-British Brooches, published in 1982, that Mr Pickard first aroused his interest in brooches and inspired him in writing his books during his retirement. Mr Pickard also wrote the foreword to the section on Roman animal brooches, op. cit. p.158-160.

Comprising a circular body with a rounded base and two strap handles, a short neck with an everted rim; the body with a painted expanding cross motif with the arms separated by a band of pellets. 132 grams, 11.1 cm



Private collection, Switzerland, acquired in the 1994. Private family 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 search certificate number no.13018-246795.

Mycenaean ceramics were influenced by Minoan shapes and decorative styles from the late Middle Helladic period. This close relationship – likely accompanied by the development of shared cultural practices and etiquette – creates the hypothesis that pilgrim flasks were introduced to Greece via Crete. Pilgrim flasks were produced in Mycenaean contexts from the Late Helladic IIA:1 period (1420-1390 B.C.).

With flared mouth, wide neck, bulbous body and ring foot, painted in brown and red matte glaze; geometric pattern spread over several registers separated by bundles of encircling stripes, triangles with hatching inside them, neck with metopes containing swastikas, rosettes and rhombuses with a band of rhombuses beneath; the shoulder with five line friezes arranged one above the other; the body decorated with meander and a band of rhombuses and triangles with hatching below, a broad black stripe (in places reddish as a result of misfiring) to the lower part; transition to the ring foot and ring foot painted black; wide strap handle attached to the shoulder and painted on the outside with a wavy line framed by dots, edge stripes and three small stars, the connecting bar patterned with stripes; museum-quality restoration. 2.04 kg, 35.5 cm



Ex Madame P., Paris. 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 search certificate number no.12460-228686.

Vessels of the Geometric period (900-700 BCE) are easily recognisable by their abstract decorative designs, which had their origin in woven textiles and baskets. While early period pottery typically has sparse geometric motifs on a black background, the amount of decoration increased progressively to the point that objects from the late Geometric period are often entirely covered - in this example, even the strap handle.