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Details
LOT 0059
Greek Silver-Gilt Mask of Silenus
3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C.
1 1/2 in. (3 7/8 in.) (9.4 grams, 37 mm (160 grams total, 98 mm high including stand)).
Naturalistically modelled in repoussé as the mature and frowning face of the god Silenus; accompanied by a custom-made display stand.
Provenance
Ex old English collection.
London art market, 1980s.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11849-207741.
Literature
Cf. The Dallas Museum of Art, object number 1991.75.74.3, for a broadly comparable mask in gold.
Footnotes
In Greek mythology, Silenus was a god of the forest, associated with musical creativity, ecstatic dance and drunkenness. He was also a prophet and a bearer of dire wisdom. When the god Dionysus was born from the thigh of Zeus, Hermes took the infant to live with Silenus, where he was raised together with local nymphs in a cave on mount Nysa. Silenus was frequently present in the train of Dionysus, fought with the latter against the giants, and accompanied him on his adventures.
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