Greek Head of Alexander The Great

With intaglio profile bust of youthful male with curly hair, wearing a headdress; set in a later Roman period gold mount with roped border and attachment loop to the top; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 1.66 grams, 24 mm



Private English collection, formed between the late 1970s and early 1990s. Private collection, London, UK.

Obv: head of Athena with profile eye to right, wearing disc earring, pearl necklace and a crested Attic helmet adorned with three olive leaves and a pi-style palmette. Rev: ΑΘΕ, owl standing to right, head facing the viewer, olive sprig with berry and crescent moon in upper left field, all within incuse square. Kroll 8; Dewing 1591-8; SNG Copenhagen 31; HGC 4, 1597; the coin enclosed inside a modern gold medallion pendant stamped '750' with double border. 24.36 grams, 37 mm



Roma Numismatics, E-LIVE Auction 4, 29 November 2018, no.155. Private collection of Mr K.A., France. with Kallos Gallery, London. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no. 13024-246751.

The Athenian components of several of the hoards in which these tetradrachms were found, together with other published and unpublished tetradrachms, make it clear that this coinage of c.400/390 to 353 was not only substantial, but was one of the most prolific Greek coinages of the period.

Comprising a square base with a raised border and supported by four stub feet, each originally surmounted by poppy-head finials (some absent); a hollow-formed figure of a banqueteer reclining elegantly with his weight resting on his left elbow, his 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.

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.