Greek Bronze Bow Brooch

Comprising seven fluted beads, each formed from sheet-gold over a silver core. 19.61 grams total, 15 mm each



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

Comprising a wide and shallow body with everted rim; the internal wall and the upper face of the rim decorated with a procession of nude men in knielauf position, some holding a lituus in their left hand with their right hand raised up towards the sky, the other figures with both of their hands raised up, the figures alternating with figures of lions and antelopes; rosette to the centre. 9.4 kg, 44.5 cm wide



Acquired on the European art market in the early 2000s. with Galerie Rhéa, Zurich, Switzerland. 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.12776-237862.

As can be discerned from the identifying marks under the vessels, Caeretan craftsmen used the potting wheel to produce the braziers, a technique introduced in Etruria in the 8th century B.C. They were usually decorated with one or more stamped friezes rolled onto the clay with a large cylindrical matrix before firing. The subjects of these friezes were adapted by the Etruscans from Near Eastern and Greek prototypes. Today, these braziers are found in chamber graves, but they were used in the daily life of Etruscans in domestic and sacred contexts, and employed as portable hearths. A famous example came from the Tomba Maroi III in the Banditaccia Necropolis at Cerveteri, now in the Museo of Villa Giulia, Rome (Pieraccini, 2003, fig.10). It was found perched on a stone seat, and within the burned brazier were burned remains, several eggs and three drinking cups.

Of Plain Style, comprising a broad mouth and neck with torus rim, vertical handles with central rib, bulbous body, stepped disc foot; laurel wreath on the neck and a meander pattern to the lower body; Side a) a youth wearing a himation and shoes, before him a woman carrying a basket and a fillet, wearing a sleeveless chiton, himation, and a sphendone (a fillet decorated by black dots), between the two figures a standing goose before a large flower, a suspended mirror above the figures; Side b) a draped young boy holding a ball and a strigil, the slightly taller youth dressed in a himation and leaning on a staff, a haunch of meat hanging between the figures. 2.49 kg, 33.5 cm



with Bonhams, London, 13 April 2000, no.167. Private collection, Suffolk. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12903-242647.

The haunch of meat (note the hoof), was a type of 'love gift' seen in Attic vase-painting. It could also refer to honorary shares of sacrificial meat: animal sacrifice had been a central part of Greek religious life since the Prehistoric era.