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LOT 0073
Greek Carnelian Bead with Gold End Caps
HELLENISTIC, 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.
2 3/8 in. (17.44 grams, 60 mm).
Columnar bead with sheet-gold cap to each end, each with beaded circlets and applied granule clusters, domed end with loop; possibly assembled.
ProvenanceAcquired in the mid 1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.
Cf. a pair of gold disc and sphere-drop earrings of the Late Hellenistic Period in a similar style and decoration, in Ogden, J., Gold Jewellery in Ptolemaic, Roman and Byzantine Egypt, in two volumes, Volume 2 – figures, Durham, 1990, fig.268.
FootnotesThe very elaborate versions of earrings with large domes and pendants composed of clusters of hollow spheres and granulation are most typically Romano-Syrian, but they begin to be produced in the Late Hellenistic Age. They were diffused in the Levant, Egypt and on the frontier area between the Roman and the Arsacid Empire.
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AUCTIONS:
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Greek Terracotta Rhyton of a Goddess
3rd-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,720
With flanged and stepped rim, tapering curved body, figural finial of the goddess with diadem; bands of red and cream geometric detail to the rim and upper body, red wave patterns to the inner face; the goddess modelled with carefully dressed hair and floral diadem, ringlets cascading to her collar bone, alert facial expression with almond-shaped eyes and prominent nose, with C-shaped billetted collar and chiton, cupping her left breast in her right hand; mounted on a custom-made stand. 1.25 kg, 24 cm
Private collection, London, UK; formed 1970s-1980s. 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.13312-258233.
It is challenging to identify the divinity represented on our vessel: it can be associated with Ariadne, wife of the god Dionysus, but also with a Parthian goddess such as Anahita. She was a Zoroastrian goddess associated with water, fertility, and wisdom, widely venerated across the Parthian Empire and often invoked alongside Ahura Mazda in royal and religious inscriptions. Rhyta in her likeness, typically terminating in a zoomorphic or divine protome, were used as ceremonial drinking vessels, reflecting Anahita's close association with libation and purification rites. -
Greek Terracotta Female Protome
Early 5th century B.C.Estimate: £1,200 - 1,700 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £650
Mould-made female protome with oval face, graceful nose and typical "archaic" smile; forehead framed by snail-shell curls descending to shoulder-height; with a low polos with a central perforation and large disc earrings. 606 grams, 19.5 cm
Ex Herbert A. Cahn, Kunst der Antike, Basel, 1997. with Paul and Vreny Vosseler-Studer, Riehen. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00057826. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12474-228714.
The presence of cults in Magna Graecia, although they fell within a well-established pantheon, in which the deity representing the Great Mother or Mother Earth, protector of fertility, natural and human fecundity, as well as health, was the most ancient, traces back to the figure of Demeter. In terracotta statuary, especially in Lucania, the goddess became the prevalent subject of votive or propitiatory offerings, reproduced in numerous variations of pose. The most common is the seated position, a distant tradition and widespread in the ancient world, the so-called 'goddess enthroned' with its multiple meanings, which allowed it to be adapted to various forms of worship. Demeter is a female deity connected to the earthly world and fertility, and therefore also present in Lucanian religiosity. The theme of the archaic protome—a head severed just below the neck—was transformed and expanded between the 5th and 4th centuries B.C., into that of the bust, finished just above the waist. -
Large Greek Bronze Ring with Leaping Lion
Hellenistic, circa 2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Comprising a slender hoop and a thick oval bezel with a stylised lion motif. 5.50 grams, 26.35 mm overall, 20.90 mm internal diameter (approximate size British V 1/2, USA 10 3/4, Europe 24.4, Japan 23)
From a UK collection formed in the 1980s. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman.
