Loading, please wait...

Use mousewheel to zoom in and out, click to enlarge

Details

LOT 0574

Greek Black-Glazed Guttus with Infant Hercules

APULIAN, 3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C.

4 1/2 in. (165 grams, 11.5 cm).

With basal ring, trumpet-shaped spout and ring handle, disc decorated with low-relief image of infant Hercules battling a snake, shoulder with palmettes; crack across the body.

Provenance

From the stock of a former UK antiquarian, acquired at trade fairs and from private collection formed in the 1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Europe.

Footnotes

Angered by his infidelity, Zeus' wife Hera attempted to kill the infant Herakles by sending two snakes to his cradle, where he slept. As the snakes coiled around the baby Herakles woke and strangled them, thus displaying his superhuman strength at an early age.

CONDITION

VETTING:

TimeLine 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:

TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.

LOT 0574

Greek Black-Glazed Guttus with Infant Hercules

Sold for (Inc. bp): £390

Print page

RELATED LOTS

  • Greek Black-Glazed Dish
    Greek Black-Glazed Dish
    Apulian, 4th century B.C.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £143

    Squat body with carination and socle base. 57.8 grams, 64 mm



    Acquired on the art market between the late 1990s and mid-2000s. Estate of the late Barry Paul Buxton (1944–2024), Oakham, Rutland. Acquired on the UK art market, 2025.

    Lot Details

  • Greek Gold and Jet Diadem with Masks
    Greek Gold and Jet Diadem with Masks
    Hellenistic, 3rd-2nd century B.C.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £14,300

    A gold necklace or diadem composed of twenty-two articulated units each in the form of a complex shields terminating in finials decorated with palmettes executed in filigree; body consists of shield-shaped jet(?) elements with a central rhomboid panel, joined above and below by triangular sections decorated with granulated triangles; the perimeter of each shield framed by a soldered beaded wire; at the centre of each rhomboid panel, an embossed appliqué mask in low relief; to the reverse of each element, two vertically aligned loops formed from narrow gold strips and intended for articulation; offered in a lined wooden display case. 22.5 grams, 21.6 cm



    Ex M. Velensky collection, London, UK, 1990s. Accompanied by a copy of a four page examination report number 90/2015 by Dr habil Mikhail Treister. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13104-248043.

    The terminals are comparatively rare survivals, decorated with palmettes in filigree, a feature only occasionally attested among comparable assemblages from Bosporan contexts. The overall typology, decorative programme, and construction techniques closely parallel examples recovered from well-documented burials at Phanagoria, Pantikapaion, Tanais, and Tsukur-Liman. Comparable necklaces combining shield elements with embossed human heads are particularly characteristic of the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. According to the examination conducted by Dr habil. Mikhail Treister, there is nothing to challenge the authenticity of the object. The specific form, restricted geographic distribution, and close parallels suggest manufacture within a workshop of the Bosporan Kingdom, most plausibly in Phanagoria, one of its principal production centres during the Hellenistic period.

    Lot Details

  • Engraved Bronze Seal of a Republican Period Male Portrait
    Engraved Bronze Seal of a Republican Period Male Portrait
    2nd-1st century B.C.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,235

    Discoid in plan with a deeply engraved clean-shaven male bust; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 3.11 grams, 17 mm



    Private English collection, formed between the late 1970s and early 1990s. Private collection, London, UK.

    Lot Details

Stay up-to-date with the latest from TimeLine Auctions by joining our mailing list