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LOT 0558
Greek Seal Ring with Centaur
4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
1 in. (5.80 grams, 24.33 mm overall, 20.62 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)).
A copper-alloy ring composed with a slender hoop with large elliptical bezel, engraved with a centaur rearing left.
ProvenanceAcquired before 2000.
From the collection of a European gentleman living in the UK.
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AUCTIONS:
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Huge Corinthian Black-Figure Lekanis Lid
6th century B.C.Estimate: £10,000 - 14,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5,000
An extremely large Corinthian or Attic black-figure ceramic lekanis lid with concentric bands to the rim and handle; to the tondo, a frieze of painted figures comprising a swan, a regardant lion, two opposed sphinxes, another regardant lion, another swan, a bull, a lioness and part of another bull(?); restored. 3.7 kg, 49.5 cm wide
Acquired early 1990s. Ex private American collection; thence by descent. Private Swiss collection since 1998. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11614-199000. -
Greek Bearded Hermes Head
1st -2nd century A.D.Estimate: £40,000 - 60,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £20,000
A carved marble head of Hermes with densely curled hair, stern facial expression beneath a broad brow, luxuriant curled beard falling in waves and cut square at the lower edge; mounted on a custom-made display stand; a Roman copy after a 5th century B.C. Greek original. 32.2 kg total, 52 cm high including stand
Slot to top of head.
with Chaucer Fine Arts Ltd, 1980s. English private collection. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Marina Mattei and Dr Laura Maria Vigna. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11615-199747.
This type of this archaic sculpture can be traced back to the original of which many copies and variants have been preserved: the Hermes Propylaios by the Attic sculptor Alkamenes, a pupil of Phidias, active in the second half of the 5th century B.C. According to some theories, the herma was created for the Propylaea of the acropolis of Athens, as patron deity of doors and entrances; according to others, this type of bearded Hermes is not to be located at the Propylaea, but in various possible places inside the Acropolis. -
Greek Silver Medical Implement with Snake Handle
4th-3rd century B.C.Estimate: £450 - 650 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
A silver and copper-alloy medical instrument, oval in shape, the handle formed as a snake with shallow hatched pattern on the body representing scales, stylised rendering of the snake's head. 68 grams, 25 cm long
Fair condition.
Acquired mid 1980s to early 1990s. Private family collection formed in London, UK. Accompanied by a metal test assessment number 182971/HM1456 from an Oxford specialist.
The use of this spatula (probe) for medical assessment can be confirmed by its snake-shaped handle, evidently a reference to the god Asklepios, whose symbol was a staff with a serpent wrapped around it. Such implements, called 'ἀπυρομήλη', were used in the Graeco-Persian world. The survival of the handle in this example makes it a rare find.
