Loading, please wait...
LOT 0119
Greek Iridescent Pale Aqua Glass Bowl
HELLENISTIC, MID 2ND-EARLY 1ST CENTURY B.C.
6 1/4 in. (380 grams, 16 cm wide).
Conical in profile with a rounded apex, aqua glass with three incised bands below the rim on the inner face.
ProvenanceDr Jutaro Kawabe, Nagoya, Japan, his collection formed in the 1960s-1970s.
with Hoshigaoka Gallery until the late 1990s.
Private collection, London, UK.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12949-245243.
Cf. similar bowl in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession no.81.10.36.
FootnotesOn ancient glass, iridescence is the soft play of colour that develops as the surface ages and becomes silica-rich. Minute layers form over time and break light into shifting blues, greens and golds. It is not a modern finish but something time has drawn out of the material itself, so the pattern and palette are unique to each piece. Collectors prize good, stable iridescence because it lifts the form: ribs read more crisply, profiles glow, and simple vessels take on depth and movement. Museums now tend to preserve these surfaces rather than polish them away, recognising both their beauty and what they tell us about an object’s long life (though it is not, by itself, a dating test). For display, iridescent glass performs brilliantly under gentle, directional light, where the colours “turn” as the vessel is moved. Well-preserved, even iridescence of this quality is not common and adds materially to the presence—and desirability—of the piece.
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:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
-
Graeco-Phoenician Glazed Terracotta Oinochoe
7th century B.C.Estimate: £800 - 1,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £400
With a folded trefoil mouth, an applied ribbed handle and basal ring, and incised concentric rings above the equator. 491 grams, 17 cm
Private collection, acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s; thence by descent.
Throughout the 7th century BC, the Phoenician ports received goods from the East, from Cyprus, Eastern Greece, Pithecussa, and even Etruria, likely in exchange for grain, oil, and wine. Among the various archaeological finds unearthed in these ports are Attic, Corinthian, and Rhodian pottery, some of which was manufactured by the Greek colonies of the West, such as Ischia-Pithecussa. -
Greek Bronze Child's Ring with a Warrior
Circa 4th-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Featuring a slender hoop and a lentoid bezel with a standing warrior holding a shield and a spear. 0.76 grams, 14.36 mm overall, 13.02 mm internal diameter (approximate size British D, USA 1 3/4, Europe 1.15, Japan 1)
From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s. -
.jpg)
Large Greek Silver-Gilt Bowl
Hellenistic, 2nd-1st century B.C.Estimate: £18,000 - 24,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £10,000
A shallow phiale with chamfered, thickened rim; narrow band of gilding beneath the rim, broad parcel-gilt decorative band with wave borders framing reserved tendrils and foliage; to the centre a parcel-gilt panel with keystone border and quatrefoil motif. 428 grams, 21.2 cm
French collection, 1980s. Pierre Berge & Associes, Paris, Archéologie, 16 May 2018, lot 214. Accompanied by a copy of a seven-page examination report number 113/2019 by Dr habil Mikhail Treister. Accompanied by the original French archaeological passport. Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Pierre Berge & Associes catalogue pages. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.10426-168735.
The bowl is comparable to an early group of Parthian bowls, kept in the P. Getty Museum, dated to the 2nd century B.C. It belongs to a group of bowls with parcel-gilt decoration on the interior, most probably manufactured in one of the Eastern Hellenistic workshops.
