Loading, please wait...
LOT 0566
Greek Bronze Bird
GEOMETRIC, 8TH-6TH CENTURY B.C.
1 3/4 in. (19.8 grams, 45 mm).
Modelled in the round with triangular fantail, lateral bulb eyes, pierced transversely at the chest for attachment.
ProvenanceAcquired by a Swiss family in the mid-1980s to late 1990s, thence by descent.
Private collection, Switzerland, since the late 1990s.
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.
-
Large Greek Red-Figure Amphora with Dionysian Scenery
Apulian, 3rd-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
The piriform body with broad, stepped rim and two lentoid-section handles; painted palemete beneath each handle and on the neck below the mouth; Side A: red-figure frieze depicting a standing woman wearing a himation and stephane, her hands raised supporting objects, a laurel frond before her and a seated nude male with thyrsus and other items; Side B: two opposed figures standing supported by staves, each wearing a loosely draped floor-length garment; objects in the field. 1.88 kg, 43 cm
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. Accompanied by a thermoluminescence analysis report no.N126a18 from Oxford Authentication. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13075-248951.
The subject is standard, often representing the draped youths completely enveloped in their himatia. -
Greek Bowl with Crimson and Black Decorations
4th century B.C.Estimate: £1,000 - 1,400 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £500
With a narrow basal ring, a flared rim, and painted circumferential bands. 49.2 grams, 63 mm
Private collection, Los Angeles, USA. Acquired on the American art market. European private collection. -
Italic Banded Agate Scarab with Kneeling Warrior in Gold Mount
3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,700
Scarab bezel with carapace detailing and intaglio of a kneeling male nude wearing a helmet, holding a shield, sword and a spear; set into a later gold swivel ring; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 5.24 grams, 25 mm
English private collection. Acquired on the English art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13110-248399.
The intaglio can depict Capaneus, a legendary, strong, skilled, but arrogant warrior. He was one of the Seven Against Thebes, who boasted that not even Zeus could stop him from scaling the city walls. However, as he climbed them, Zeus struck him down with a bolt of lightning, illustrating divine punishment for his hubris. Evadne, his wife, then threw herself onto the funerary pyre in her grief. The story of strength but excessive pride was reflected in Dante's Inferno, where Capaneus is in the seventh circle as a condemned blasphemer.