Greek Cypriot Amphora Neck

An amorphous fragment from a terracotta face, retaining the left eye, nose, partial upper lip and fringes of hair, rendered with semi-naturalistic detailing. 125 grams, 13 cm high



Private Swiss collection, acquired 2002.

A bucchero sottile kotyle, a deep drinking vessel of early type, decorated with a rouletted fan pattern above, incised triangles radiating from the base, with panels of geometric line decoration to the centre; skyphos-like handles to either side; some restoration. 213 grams, 10.5 cm high



American collector before 2000. Property of a Spanish gentleman. Property of a Sussex, UK, teacher. Accompanied by a copy of a Spanish cultural export licence.

This vessel was likely to have been made in a workshop in Cerveteri, belonging to the category of the so-called bucchero sottile, (thin bucchero, 675-625 B.C.) although some were produced at Tarquinia, and many distributed as far as Carthage and beyond. Decoration of this kind of kotyles (Rasmussen type c) are composed of simple groups of horizontal and vertical lines. Closed fans, whether horizontal or vertical, may be included at handle-level, below the usual pair of lines below the rim.

A high-quality silver wine strainer composed of a shallow bowl and broad flange rim, two integral scalloped handles with scrolled flourishes, tapering to a loop 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. 160 grams, 22.2 cm wide (526 grams total including stand)



Ex private South German collection, 1980s. with Christie's, New York, 8 June 2012, lot 86. 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.11578-198980.

Elaborate silver 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 later 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 which could be 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.