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LOT 0637
Greek Gold Pomegranate-Shaped Pendant
CIRCA 5TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
3/4 in. (0.29 grams, 18 mm).
Comprising a hollow-form body with detailed calyx below, the suspension formed as a hollow collared bead with a thin connecting loop.
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a late Japanese collector, 1970s.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Cf. for similar gold beads in Marshall, F.H., Catalogue of the jewellery, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman, in the department of antiquities, British Museum, London, 1911, pl.XXIII, nos.1450,1458.
FootnotesFruit were generally considered to be a symbol of sensuality, temptation and fertility; the giving and accepting of fruit may be regarded as a symbolic sexual act, or at least a prelude to marriage. It follows naturally that the pomegranate, with its innumerable fleshy seeds symbolising life and fecundity, was an attribute of Aphrodite.
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AUCTIONS:
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Parthian Bronze Batillum with a Reclining Banqueteer Holding a Skyphos and Rhyton
3rd-1st century B.C.Estimate: £6,000 - 8,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £3,000
Comprising a square base with a raised border and supported by four stub feet, each originally surmounted by poppy-head finials (one now absent); a hollow-formed figure of a banqueteer reclining elegantly with his weight resting on his left elbow, his proper right leg drawn up beneath the folds of a finely pleated robe; in his right hand, a ram’s head rhyton and his left hand cradling a skyphos; his bearded head with a laurel wreath. 1.58 kg, 25 cm
Private New York collection, formed in the 1960s. Acquired on the North American art market, 1990s. with Cahn Auktionen AG, Basel, Switzerland, 13 November 2015, no.84 (CHF 18,000). 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.12379-226873. 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.
The composition reflects the iconography of elite banquet culture in the ancient world, capturing both refinement and ritual in a single expressive figure. The Greek 'συμπόσιον' 'symposium' was the later part of a formal banquet which took place after the food had been consumed, when the serving of strong drink was accompanied by music, dancing, poetic composition or recital or earnest conversation. The custom has similarities with the Roman convivium and with the customs of many Mediterranean and Western Asiatic people. The Parthian Empire was culturally diverse and included many Hellenic groups; the Arsacid court adopted a range of aspects of contemporary Greek culture, among them Greek military structures and the Greek language as a lingua franca alongside the Parthian (Iranian) language and Aramaic. -
Large Greek Geometric Bronze Spiral Fibula
7th-6th century B.C.Estimate: £450 - 550 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £225
Formed from a single square-section filament rolled into two 'spectacle' discs; one of the spirals terminating in a long pin, the other in a hook serving as the catchplate; openwork figure-of-eight at the centre; pin present broken, coils separated. 159 grams, 17 cm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. -
Corinthian Terracotta Black-Figure Alabastron
6th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
With broad mouth and pierced-lug handle below; the body decorated with a figure of a crouching lion in profile and a sphinx; stylised flowers of varying sizes in the field, dashes to the neck and upper face of the mouth, dots around the rim, rosette to base. 38.9 grams, 83 mm
Private collection, Tokyo, Japan, since the 1980s. Private European collection, acquired in 2010. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
