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LOT 0072
Greek Gold and Jet Diadem with Masks
HELLENISTIC, 3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C.
8 1/2 in. (22.5 grams, 21.6 cm).
A gold necklace or diadem composed of twenty-two articulated units each in the form of a complex shields terminating in finials decorated with palmettes executed in filigree; body consists of shield-shaped jet(?) elements with a central rhomboid panel, joined above and below by triangular sections decorated with granulated triangles; the perimeter of each shield framed by a soldered beaded wire; at the centre of each rhomboid panel, an embossed appliqué mask in low relief; to the reverse of each element, two vertically aligned loops formed from narrow gold strips and intended for articulation; offered in a lined wooden display case.
ProvenanceEx M. Velensky collection, London, UK, 1990s.
Accompanied by a copy of a four page examination report number 90/2015 by Dr habil Mikhail Treister.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13104-248043.
See The Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 13.234.1, for clasps.
FootnotesThe terminals are comparatively rare survivals, decorated with palmettes in filigree, a feature only occasionally attested among comparable assemblages from Bosporan contexts. The overall typology, decorative programme, and construction techniques closely parallel examples recovered from well-documented burials at Phanagoria, Pantikapaion, Tanais, and Tsukur-Liman. Comparable necklaces combining shield elements with embossed human heads are particularly characteristic of the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. According to the examination conducted by Dr habil. Mikhail Treister, there is nothing to challenge the authenticity of the object. The specific form, restricted geographic distribution, and close parallels suggest manufacture within a workshop of the Bosporan Kingdom, most plausibly in Phanagoria, one of its principal production centres during the Hellenistic period.
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