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LOT 0099
Greek Gold Earring Pair with Lion Heads
4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
5/8 - 3/4 in. (3.05 grams total, 15-21 mm).
Each with a decoratively twisted ear hook and lion head terminal with ornamental collar adorned with filigree spirals and granule clusters; non-identical. [2]
ProvenanceAcquired between 1950-1970s.
Ex Swiss private collection.
Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession numbers 74.51.3491 and 74.51.3484, for similar.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0099
Greek Gold Earring Pair with Lion Heads
Estimate £1,000 - 1,400€1,160 - 1,620 (for guidance only)$1,350 - 1,890 (for guidance only)
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Hellenistic Glass Gem with Goddess
3rd-2nd century B.C.Estimate: £600 - 800 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £333
Engraved with a goddess (Aphrodite?), facing right, peplos around her hips, her left elbow resting on a column and her left hand behind her body; the right hand outstretched and holding a sceptre; a snake(?) before. 2.52 grams, 22 mm
Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Important North West London collection.
In the famous Greek myth of the Gorgon, Aphrodite, jealous of their beauty, placed a curse on Medusa and her sisters, transforming their hair into snakes and making their gaze turn anyone into stone. -
Graeco-Phoenician Stone Scaraboid with Winged Beast in Gold Swivel Ring
Circa 7th-5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £546
The scaraboid engraved to one face with a winged creature facing left, possibly a gryphon, a star in the field above; set in a later gold ring with round cross-section and stamped maker's mark in a triangular cartouche; articulate swivel. 7.68 grams, 30.50 mm overall, 20.15 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T 1/2, USA 9 3/4, Europe 21.89, Japan 21)
Collected since the 1970s. Ex Everitt collection, acquired by descent 2017. -
Greek Marble Funerary Anthemion Stele
4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £17,550
Comprising a tall, plain body with two rosettes; crowned by an elaborate palmette and volute design with shallow acanthus stalks and small rosettes; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 55.6 kg total, 105.5 cm high including stand (95.2 cm without stand)
Private Swiss collection, acquired in the 1980s. with Ward & Co., New York, 2014. Private American collection, K.M., circa 2015-present. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate number S00114167, dated 2 June 2016. 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 a search certificate number no.11776-204598.
These memorials, originally painted (see gravestone from Paramythion, cf. Brinkmann-Wünsche, 2004, pp.148ff.), were venerated by families, anointed with oil, decorated with ribbons, and graced with offerings of food. They rivalled each other in the increasingly ostentatious display of family status and wealth, so much so that by the end of the 4th century B.C., a sumptuary law was passed, abruptly ceasing their production. In their heyday, these stelae provided sculptors an opportunity to demonstrate their technical virtuosity with both ornamental and figural subjects. It was not unusual for the anthemion to be of higher quality than the figures sculpted and painted below it.
