Greek Geometric Miniature Bronze Vessel with Cross

Modelled in the round with a muscular nude body, his club resting on his shoulder and the hair dressed in rows of tight, close-set curls underneath the Nemean lionskin hood with cloak billowing over his left arm, the paws tied across his chest; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 290 grams total, 14.5 cm high (19.5 cm high including stand)

Fine condition, excellent uniform patina.

with Sotheby's, New York, 21 November 1985, no.60. Ex private New York collection. 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.11794-206497.

The statuette assumes the position of the 'attacking Hercules', which characterises numerous Etruscan statues of the hero of the classical era, however, with a less aggressive stance. The type was probably an Etruscan creation of the 5th century B.C., based on Greek models, which lasted until the end of the Hellenistic period, when Etruria was by then incorporated into the Roman world. This statuette, despite certain anatomical stylisation and an impersonal characterisation of the face, is the result of a good artistic and technical quality. The comparison of the artwork with the group identified as ‘Trieste’ from Colonna shows that this specimen is more recent and should be dated to the end of the Hellenistic Age. These small statuettes were probably offered ex-voto by the Romano-Etruscan aristocracy of the period.

Representing a warrior with conical helmet riding his mount, horse with long neck, short legs and traces of polychromy all along body, neck and ears. 251 grams, 17 cm high



From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

The most popular animals in Cypriot coroplasts of the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. were horses, with or without riders, with long necks and decorated along the whole body like contemporary ceramics. It is worth remembering that the horse in this period represented a status symbol for the military aristocracy and that bodies of sacrificed horses have been found in royal tombs.

With broad flat foot, short stem, broad bowl with carination at the shoulder, two square strap handles; frieze of black-painted decoration including two scenes of a quadriga chariot with a man stepping in to the chariot and a musician with a kithara, between palmettes; some restoration. 520 grams, 24.5 cm wide



Cambridgeshire, UK, collection, 1990s-2000s. Ex property of a Suffolk, UK, gentleman. Accompanied by an original thermoluminescence analysis report no.N124a8 from Oxford Authentication.

These Attic kylikes were usually presented with a stemmed base, a deep bowl and two upturned loop handles, on a concave base. The exterior walls were decorated with black-figure technique on red background, here in a style remarkably similar to that of the Haimon Painter.