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LOT 0529
Greek Terracotta Head Collection
3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C.
2 1/2 - 3 in. (184 grams total, 63-77 mm including stand).
Including hollow-formed and solid moulded and hand-formed types in various types of ceramic; each mounted on a custom-made display stand. [6, No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
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AUCTIONS:
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Cypriot Terracotta Vessel with Bull's Head on Rim
Bronze Age, circa 2000 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Bell-shaped jar with pierced lug below the rim, applied bull-head opposite; repaired. 670 grams, 17.1 cm wide
From the private collection of Dick Meijer. From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. Accompanied by an old handwritten tag with provenance. -
Greek Campanian Black-Glazed Kernos
Late 4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,560
Comprising a round pedestal supporting four small offering pots, interspersed with four female face protomes; looped handle to the centre with parallel strokes in low-relief. 623 grams, 16 cm high
From the West German collection of H.W. Acquired from the De Mynter, Belgium, in 2011. with Gorny and Mosch, Munich, 3 June 2017, no.52. Private Portuguese R.M. collection. Accompanied by a previous catalogue information slip.
The kernos can be recognised by a series of small cups on the lip, with examples dating back to the Bronze Age. It was used to store offerings made to the gods, specifically in cults pertaining to Demeter and Persephone. The receptacles probably contained foodstuffs, or perhaps flowers, and a lamp was sometimes placed in the centre. Kernoses, such as this, were often carried in processions at the Eleusinian Mysteries (secret initiation rites celebrating the goddesses Demeter and Persephone) and were an important object for Greek religious life. Kernoses are thus closely related to the agrarian cult and to the myth of Persephone and Demeter, the goddess of fertility and agriculture. The myth is recounted in an Homeric Hymn (c. 650 B.C.) according to which Persephone, Demeter’s daughter, was seized by Hades, the king of the underworld, who brought her to his kingdom to make her his wife. Distraught, Demeter caused a terrible drought, which continued until Persephone returned to her mother from the underworld. Having consumed pomegranate seeds whilst she was in the Underworld, she was only able to be with her for a few months of the year. -
Greek and Other Pottery Fragment Group
Circa 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Including amphora, bowl, cup and other fragments. 5.6 kg total, 5.5-33 cm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
