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_900x900.jpg "Greek Silver Medical Implement with Snake Handle")
_200x200.jpg "Greek Silver Medical Implement with Snake Handle")
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LOT 0615
Greek Silver Medical Implement with Snake Handle
4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
10 in. (68 grams, 25 cm long).
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.
ProvenanceAcquired 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.
Cf. Milne, J.S., Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman times, Oxford, 1907, pl.XI,4, for a spatula with a similar snake handle.
FootnotesThe 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.
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LOT 0615
Greek Silver Medical Implement with Snake Handle
Estimate £400 - 600€460 - 700 (for guidance only)$540 - 810 (for guidance only)
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Minoan Bronze Double Axehead
Circa 2000 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £975
Substantial labrys with flared and curved edges, elliptoid socket to the centre. 973 grams, 17.5 cm
Gifted to the previous owner's husband by his grandfather prior to 1919 while in Crete. Taken to Paris and brought to the UK before 1985. Acquired from Bonhams, London, 20 October 2005, no.124. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages.
The double axe was both a tool, weapon and one of the main religious symbol in Minoan Crete. It was as significant and as important in Minoan religious practice as the ritual horn and the pillar. -
Greek Gold Earring Pair with Lion Heads
4th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £975
Each with a decoratively twisted ear hook and lion head terminal with ornamental collar adorned with filigree spirals and granule clusters; non-identical. 3.05 grams total, 15-21 mm
Acquired between 1950-1970s. Ex Swiss private collection. -
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Apulian Red-Figure Askos with Panthers
4th century B.C.Estimate: £3,000 - 4,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £833
With an arching strap handle and a wide spout; either side of the body painted with a crouching panther, one playing with a ball and the other depicted facing; repaired. 149 grams, 12 cm
Fine condition, some surface rubbing on the black glaze, with metallic gloss, some calcareous deposits on underside of lip and vase, glaze slightly chipped in a few places, repaired.
Acquired from Gallery Gryphos, Munich, 1992. European private collection. 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 a search certificate number no.12001-211879.
Painted askoi in different forms have been produced and been in use in Athens since the middle and second quarter of the 5th century B.C., but they were also made in southern Italy. The askoi painted with a pair of animal figures were realised in Magna Graecia after the Attic continental production of similar models, with the representation of griffins, sphinxes and laconic hounds. The function of the askos as a vessel was clearly linked to wine, and therefore it is not anomalous to see it decorated with panther motifs, an animal connected with Dionysus, the god of wine and drinking.
