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LOT 0069
Greek 'Plastic' Oinochoe with a Bust of a Bearded Man
5TH CENTURY B.C.
4 5/8 in. (77 grams, 11.8 cm).
The body formed as a male head with his elongated neck forming the foot of the vessel; wearing an ivy-leaf crown, stylised, painted facial features and a full beard, two rows of stylised curls above the forehead; the neck of the vessel emerging from the top of his head, trefoil mouth and a handle to the rear; some repainting.
ProvenanceSwiss private collection formed in 1960s-1970s.
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.13016-246780.
Cf. Beazley, J.D., ‘Charinos, Attic Vases in the form of Human Heads’ in Journal of Hellenic Studies, 49 (1929), pp.38-78, fig.14 (specimen from Thebes); Beazley, J.D., Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters, Oxford, 1963, 1539.6, for another plastic vase featuring Herakles; see also MET, accession no.01.8.7. for a similar Attic oinochoe with female features; cf. for other female counterparts, Christie's, Antiquities, 8th December 2021, London, 2021, lot 49; a specimen in the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes, inventory no.12913 in Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Italia, Museo Archeologico dello Spedale dei Cavalieri di Rodi 2, Roma, 1934, nos. III K a b c, pl.1,1-2.
FootnotesHead vases first appeared in the late 7th century B.C. in eastern Greece. The potters of Attica adopted this shape in the late 6th century, with a clear preference towards female heads, but not excluding male heads, especially when referring to mythological heroes or characters. The work, with its finely modelled features, is the product of an Attic workshop. According to the Beazley classification, the oinochoe should belong to the group N (Cook Class), generally dated to the 480-460 B.C. and widespread around the Mediterranean and Black Sea (a similar female example was found in Aphytis – Chalcidika).
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0069
Greek 'Plastic' Oinochoe with a Bust of a Bearded Man
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
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Greek Silver Phalera with Dionysus
3rd-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,560
Discoid in plan with returned rim, guilloche to the outer field and egg-and-dart to the dome; central bust of Dionysus modelled in high-relief with garland in his hair. 5.28 grams, 41 mm
Private collection, assembled in the 1950s-1970s, thence by descent. -
Large Greek Bronze Double-Headed Animal Terminal
Geometric, 8th-6th century B.C.Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £750
Comprising a crescent body with a slender neck at each end, topped by a bird-head with a rectangular crest, vertical legs with raised block detailing conjoined at the lower end into a mounting peg. 55.6 grams, 86 mm
Ex collection Mr K.H., Germany. Private collection, acquired in 2012. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13077-246757.
Bird figures, standing on plates or discs, are found as votives mainly in Northern Greek sanctuaries of the Geometric Age. They should be regarded as symbolic and sometimes modest gifts to the gods. Some birds were also designed as pendants. The present fitting evokes the rooster, but a possible representation of a peacock and its connection with Hera is not to be excluded. -
Greek Gold and Jet Diadem with Masks
Hellenistic, 3rd-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £14,300
A gold necklace or diadem composed of twenty-two articulated units each in the form of a complex shields terminating in finials decorated with palmettes executed in filigree; body consists of shield-shaped jet(?) elements with a central rhomboid panel, joined above and below by triangular sections decorated with granulated triangles; the perimeter of each shield framed by a soldered beaded wire; at the centre of each rhomboid panel, an embossed appliqué mask in low relief; to the reverse of each element, two vertically aligned loops formed from narrow gold strips and intended for articulation; offered in a lined wooden display case. 22.5 grams, 21.6 cm
Ex M. Velensky collection, London, UK, 1990s. Accompanied by a copy of a four page examination report number 90/2015 by Dr habil Mikhail Treister. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13104-248043.
The terminals are comparatively rare survivals, decorated with palmettes in filigree, a feature only occasionally attested among comparable assemblages from Bosporan contexts. The overall typology, decorative programme, and construction techniques closely parallel examples recovered from well-documented burials at Phanagoria, Pantikapaion, Tanais, and Tsukur-Liman. Comparable necklaces combining shield elements with embossed human heads are particularly characteristic of the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. According to the examination conducted by Dr habil. Mikhail Treister, there is nothing to challenge the authenticity of the object. The specific form, restricted geographic distribution, and close parallels suggest manufacture within a workshop of the Bosporan Kingdom, most plausibly in Phanagoria, one of its principal production centres during the Hellenistic period.
