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LOT 0087
Greek Terracotta Amphora Attributed to the Phineus Painter
CHALCIDIAN, CIRCA 525 B.C.
11 in. (1.06 kg, 28 cm).
Piriform body with splayed foot and narrow handles; the neck with slender lotus blossoms and palmettes, Side A) two opposing roosters with a lotus blossom in between, two standing swans flanking, below a youth on horseback holding the reins of a trotting horse, a man and a woman behind the horse; Side B) a grazing deer before an advancing panther looking back, two opposing sphinxes below with their heads turned back and front paws raised. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceEx Münzen und Medaillen A.G., H. Cahn, Basel, 13 April 1985.
Private collection, Bern, Switzerland.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12643-236366.
Cf. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession no.49.113, for a neck-amphora attributed to the Phineus Painter and showing a youth on horseback; s. also Rumpf, Chalkidische Vasen, Berlin, 1927, Taf. 95, and two lost examples, pp. 179 ff.
FootnotesAn important work by the leading master of the 'Chalcidian' workshop, which, despite the name, is not to be located in Chalkis itself but rather in a Chalcidian colony in Magna Graecia (possibly Rhegion). Within the oeuvre of Phineus, who is known for his neck-amphorae, examples with two image zones are very rare—see, for example, the fragmentary amphora in the Faina Collection in Orvieto, with similar sphinxes.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0087
Greek Terracotta Amphora Attributed to the Phineus Painter
Estimate £4,000 - 6,000€4,640 - 6,960 (for guidance only)$5,400 - 8,100 (for guidance only)
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Greek Bronze Horse Head Mount
Circa 4th-3rd century B.C.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £100
Modelled in the round with large almond-shaped eyes and pricked ears. 34.8 grams, 38 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Archaic Greek Bronze Statuette of a Coiled and Rearing Snake
Archaic, 6th-5th century B.C.Estimate: £5,000 - 7,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £2,500
Modelled in the round with coiled body and rearing head, barbed fin to the forehead, punched annulet texturing on the body. 312 grams, 11 cm
Private collection, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, assembled in the 1980s. Acquired in 1995 by a European private collector. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12856-241689.
Snakes were important symbols in ancient Greek culture and were often linked with protection, healing, and renewal. Because they shed their skin, they were seen as a sign of rebirth and new life. They were also connected with gods and spirits of the earth and underworld, and in some cases were thought to protect the home or sacred places. In Greek art, a snake could therefore carry both religious and symbolic meaning. -
Greek Bronze Gryphon Statuette
Circa 4th-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
Modelled in a typical pose with its front paws extended, an erect head and small wings. 28.4 grams, 46 mm wide
From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s.
