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LOT 0114
Greek Bronze Wine Strainer with Swan-Head Handles
4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
7 3/4 in. (402 grams total, 19.7 cm including stand).
Comprising a shallow bowl and broad flange rim, two integral scalloped handles with lateral scrolled flourishes, each tapering to a S-curved handle with swan-head terminals with incised eye and beak detailing; perforated whirl within roundel to interior base; accompanied by a custom-made display stand with mirror.
Provenancewith Hôtel des ventes de Belfort Sarl, October 2011, no.16.
Acquired by the present owner at the above sale.
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.12209-222140.
Cf. Reeder, Ellen D., Hellenistic Art in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1988, p.125, no.130, for similar examples and a general discussion of type; A Passion for Antiquities, Ancient Art from the collection of Barbera and Lawrence Fleischman, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1994, pp.77-78, no.31D; and The Search for Alexander, exhibition catalogue, 1980, p.167, no.130; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1972.118.88, for a group containing a strainer with similar looped handle and bird head terminal; a similar specimen in the Walters Art Museum, accession number 57.910; a similar example in shape and quality can be seen in the ‘Tomb of the Prince’, in Pella, cf. Touratsoglou, I., Macedonia, History, Monuments, Museums, Athens, 1996, p.240, fig.312.
FootnotesElaborate gilded strainers, such as this present example, were used at symposia and festive occasions for the purpose of preventing the dregs of wine from entering the wine cup. This and other related silver utensils became popular in the late 4th and 3rd century B.C. These highly decorated wine strainers were fitted with dual handles forming loops in the shape of twisting animals, here a swan. Usually, they took the form of a shallow dish complete with four rings of perforations in the centre in order to drain the wine. Strainers of this type were used to separate out sediments found in the thick Greek wine. Examples similar to this one have been found in royal tombs in northern Greece, as well as the tomb of a monarch in Sudan.
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LOT 0114
Greek Bronze Wine Strainer with Swan-Head Handles
Estimate £10,000 - 14,000€11,600 - 16,240 (for guidance only)$13,500 - 18,900 (for guidance only)
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Cypriot Terracotta Jug with Decorations
7th-6th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £364
Comprising a spherical body and flat base, trumpet-shaped mouth with biconvex collar and strap handle; painted circumferential bands. 67 grams, 91 mm
Acquired by a Swiss family in the mid-1980s to late 1990s, thence by descent. Private collection, Switzerland, since the late 1990s. -
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'The Guttmann' Large Greek Bronze Funerary Situla
7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,560
Formed with a single-piece bottom and two-piece body riveted together; the underside recessed, sidewall flared with a carination at the shoulder and rolled rim; attachment point for handles at the seams below the shoulder and to the inner face of the rim; small repair panel to the inner face. 1.56 kg, 26.2 cm
Ex Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, Germany [1944-2001], AG 490. Private collection, UK. Accompanied by a copy of the relevant pages where this situla is published. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13059-248969.
The situla (type A of the Giuliani-Pomes classification) comes from a funerary complex that may have also included a geometric helmet with a horse protome. A very similar example comes from the Bernardini Tomb in Palestrina, now in the Archaeological Museum of Villa Giulia, Rome. -
Large Greek Red-Figure Skyphos with Owl
South Italian, 5th-4th century B.C.Estimate: £2,500 - 3,500 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,350
With mammiform body, pedestal base and two loop handles; each side with a facing image of an owl between laurel fronds. 239 grams, 17.5 cm
Swiss private collection, assembled in the 1960s-1970s. Private collection, acquired in 2013. Accompanied by a thermoluminescence analysis report no.N126a14 from Oxford Authentication. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12854-241751.
Bubo was the holy beloved magical owl of the goddess Athena, and it was a common subject from the Greek ceramists. The owl-skyphos, originally produced in 5th century Athens, was extremely popular and was exported from Athens to other parts of the Greek world, including southern Italy and Etruria. Local imitations have been excavated at Corinth, and during the fourth century, or perhaps even slightly earlier, skyphoi similar to those from Athens were produced in Apulia and Etruria.
