Greek Silver Belt Hanger with Decorated Terminals

With a bulbous body, flared foot, lateral loop handles to the shoulder and a strap handle to the rear. 23.5 grams, 37 mm



Acquired by a Swiss family in the mid-1980s to late 1990s, thence by descent. Private collection, Switzerland, since the late 1990s.

The earliest Archaic Greek bronze hydriai enter the archaeological record in the last quarter of the seventh century. Although the appearance of bronze marks the first significant period of production in the Iron Age, these vessels represent a reawakening of an illustrious tradition dating back at least to the Helladic Bronze Age, if not considerably earlier.

Carved from banded orange agate and formed as a flattened scarab with a striated carapace, pierced for suspension. 3.53 grams, 18 mm



UK private collection, acquired on the English market in the 2000s.

The shape of an Etruscan scarab includes: (1) the scarab gem, where the engraving of the curved back of the stone more or less faithfully imitates the anatomical parts of the scarab beetle; (2) the scaraboid, which retains the overall shape of the scarab gem but with little or no engraving on the curved backside; and (3) the pseudo-scarab, which has an image carved in relief on its curved backside instead of a beetle. All three types have a flat, oval underside which carries an engraved miniature image (device) within a decorated border which is usually hatched.

Scaraboid type with incuse design to the underside of a winged hippocamp inside a ropework border, possibly later engraved water waves; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 2.29 grams 16 mm



From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s.