Greek Gold and Carnelian Necklace

Carved in the form of an elaborate palmette with stems in the form of spiral tendrils rising from acanthus leaves, a small rosette at the top between the converging fronds; holes on the reverse for attachment to shaft; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 57 kg total, 47 cm (53.5 cm including stand)



Acquired on the New York, USA, art market, 1994. with Christie's, London, The Stanford Place Collection of Antiquities, 26 April 2006, no.30. Private collection, UK. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Christie's 'Stanford Place Collection' catalogue pages. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12614-235145. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

This iconography was adapted from the Egyptian and Asiatic honeysuckle, also known as lotus palmette. First depicted on Attic white-ground lekythoi; in the 5th century B.C., then as architectural decoration, carved marble examples of this type of funerary monument were erected in the 5th-4th century B.C. It was not unusual for the anthemion to be of higher quality than the figures sculpted and painted beneath it. One splendid example is the stele of Paramythion (cf. Brinkmann-Wünsche, 2004, pp.148ff.). These memorials, originally painted, were venerated by families, anointed with oil, decorated with ribbons, and graced with offerings of food.

Plano-convex with incuse image of spiked club and lionskin mantle, repaired. 1.8 grams, 17 mm



Acquired in the 1970s. Ex London, UK, collection. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12386-226380. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Matched pair of hollow-formed pendants, each a bull's head modelled in the round with a rosette to the rear beneath the loop. 5.39 grams total, 23-24 mm



Acquired in 1986. with Taisei Gallery, Gold & Silver Auction, Part II, Ancient to Renaissance, 5 November 1992, The Conrad Salon, The Waldorf-Astoria, New York, no.165. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11969-210472. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

In Cyprus, the cult of the bull developed from the 3rd millennium B.C. until the 6th century B.C. The bull was a 'frequently invoked manifestation of divinity', and its cult was widespread since the Minoan Age. The appearance of gold bull-head pendants in tombs had an aesthetic and social value, but at the same time it also had a deeper symbolic and religious meaning.