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LOT 0051
Greek Marble Head of a Youth
EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.
7 1/8 in. (879 grams total, 18 cm high including stand).
Carved in the round; semi-naturalistic anatomic and facial detailing, hair gathered loosely at the neck and tied with a taenia knotted at the nape of the neck; mounted on a custom-made display base.
ProvenanceEx old European private property, by inheritance to the previous owner.
Ex Schuler Auktionen, Zürich, 10 December 2020, no.1211.
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.11817-206512.
Cf. Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession no.1992.11.60, for a similar marble head of a Kouros, c.525-475 B.C., in Zimmerman, J.-L., Collection de la Fondation Thétis: Développements de l'Art Grec de la Préhistoire à Rome, Geneva, 1987, p.47, no.88; cf. also a slightly later head with tight, defined curls, likely to have come from a group within a funerary naiskos, no. 1972.118.111 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in Von Bothmer, D. and d'Harnoncourt, R., Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities: An Exhibition from the Collection of Walter Cummings Baker, Esq. no. 59, p. 10, pl. 20, 1950, New York; see also Dörig, J., The Olympia Master and his collaborators, Leiden-New York-Köln-København, 1987.
FootnotesThe small statuette to which the head belonged was probably that of a naked youth, the so-called kouros, typical of archaic Greek sculpture from the 7th century B.C. onwards.
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LOT 0051
Greek Marble Head of a Youth
Estimate £2,500 - 3,500€2,900 - 4,060 (for guidance only)$3,380 - 4,730 (for guidance only)
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Hellenistic Osiris Canopus Gemstone in Gold Ring
2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £975
Hollow-formed shank with cell above, inset garnet cabochon with intaglio figure of Osiris Canopus. 5.05 grams, 27.35 mm overall, 18.25 mm internal diameter (approximate size British L, USA 5 3/4, Europe 11.24, Japan 10)
Ex H. Norry collection, 1980s-1990s. -
Minoan Stone Bead Seal
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £6,240
Scaphoid in plan, plano-convex with stepped profile; intaglio scene with a lion attacking a prone ibex. 5 grams, 28 mm
From a London, UK, collection, 1980s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12216-222295. -
Hellenistic Painted Terracotta Figure of Aphrodite
Mid 4th-mid 3rd century B.C.Estimate: £2,500 - 3,500 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,250
Bearing the weight of her body on her left leg, wearing a himation draped over her left and right arms, the right arm bent to grasp a part of the himation that falls behind her, leaving her shoulders uncovered and revealing her naked body; the head turned slightly to the left; the hair arranged in the typical flattering melon coiffure, parted into six large sections and gathered into a low bun; oval face with a small, fleshy mouth and a fine nose; wearing large circular earrings; her right hand resting on top of a small pillar, covered by the cloak; the lower part of the himation embroidered with volutes; the back flat with a square hole for attachment; red-brown pigment on the hair, white coating, traces of pink on the himation and red on the edges of the feet. 493 grams, 22.5 cm high
Collected in the 1950s-1990s. Ex R. Liechti collection (1934-2010), acquired in Geneva (Inventory No. R.788). Accompanied by an academic report by Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11999-211931.
In particular in South Italy, two types of female statuettes leaning on small pillars were widespread, derived from Tanagra prototypes: the first type dressed in a high-belted chiton with crowned head, the second consisting of partially draped or nude female figures identified as Aphrodite, like our specimen. The Tanagra production ended in about 200 B.C., but the models created by the Boeotian workshops would continue to be produced until the end of the 1st century B.C. The statuette shows extensive traces of the original polychromy, characterised by strongly contrasting hues in keeping with the local style. The Tanagrine elements are mainly identifiable in the ‘melon coiffure’, the intense red colour of the hair and the pose characterised by the turned hip.
