Greek Large Gold Dolphin Pendant

With piriform body, strap handle, trefoil mouth with broad pouring lip. 747 grams, 20 cm high



Ex old English collection. London art market, 1980s.

Modelled in the round with a muscular nude body, his club lifted in his right hand behind his head, his hair dressed in rows of tight, close-set curls underneath a Nemean lionskin hood with cloak billowing over his left arm, the paws tied across his chest; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 290 grams total, 14.5 cm high (19.5 cm high including stand)

Fine condition, excellent uniform patina.

with Sotheby's, New York, 21 November 1985, lot 60. Ex private New York collection. 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 search certificate number no.11794-206497.

The statuette assumes the position of the 'attacking Hercules', which characterises numerous Etruscan statues of the hero of the classical era, however, with a less aggressive stance. The type was probably an Etruscan creation of the 5th century B.C., based on Greek models, which lasted until the end of the Hellenistic period, when Etruria was by then incorporated into the Roman world. This statuette, despite certain anatomical stylisation and an impersonal characterisation of the face, is the result of a good artistic and technical quality. The comparison of the artwork with the group identified as ‘Trieste’ from Colonna shows that this specimen is more recent and should be dated to the end of the Hellenistic Age. These small statuettes were probably offered ex-voto by the Romano-Etruscan aristocracy of the period.

Each with a decoratively twisted ear hook and lion head terminal with ornamental collar adorned with filigree spirals and granule clusters; non-identical. 3.05 grams total, 15-21 mm



Acquired between 1950-1970s. Ex Swiss private collection.