Greek Gold Eros Holding a Turtle Pendant

Cylinder with cord and bead handles; accompanied by a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Cylinder Seal of White Stone (surface blackened in places) 30.5 x 21 mm. The main scene consists of a standing figure with a big shock of hair, wearing a long skirt from the waist down, marked by horizontal lines, holding up snakes in each hand. On each side of this figure is a horned animal, bovine on the left, of uncertain species on the right, each in lively pose, the one on the right sideways. There is one filler in the main scene, the head of a horned animal. The secondary scene consists of five items: a star, a bull's head shown from the front, a tree, a rosette and the head of an unidentified horned animal. This is a seal in a local Cypriot style, from Cyprus, and dating to c.1500-1300 B.C. It is an important specimen of good quality, though knowledge of ancient Cypriot mythology does not yet allow us to identify the figure holding the snakes.'; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 26.3 grams, 30 mm



UK private collection, acquired 1980-1983. Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert in February 1992. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Map of Greece and adjacent portion of the coast of Asia Minor with regional names in blackletter script; with title 'La Nouvelle Grece Selon Toutes les Regions & Provinces d'icelle tant de ca que de la 'Hellespont'; title page to reverse. 9 grams, 39.6 x 31.5 cm



Property of a Cheshire, UK, gentleman. This lot 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.