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LOT 0542
Greek Terracotta Oil Lamp
CIRCA LATE 5TH CENTURY B.C.
3 1/2 in. (56 grams, 90 mm).
Shallow, round body with inturned rim to the central vent, square-ended nozzle and low foot; lateral lugs forming attachment points for a handle (absent); old collector's labels to underside and '1801' to nozzle; typed data panel. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the collection of the late Bernard C.
Pickard, Hampshire, UK, the owner of Bernard C.
Pickard Antiquities, which closed in 1987, he had been collecting since the mid 1950s.
Accompanied by a typed information display card.
Bernard Pickard was a close friend of Richard Hattatt, the renowned author of several books on ancient brooches. Hattatt acknowledges in his first book, Ancient & Romano-British Brooches, published in 1982, that Mr Pickard first aroused his interest in brooches and inspired him in writing his books during his retirement. Mr Pickard also wrote the foreword to the section on Roman animal brooches, op.cit.
p.158-160.
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Greek Black Gemstone with Lion
4th-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Scaraboid type with incuse design to the underside of a bull with its legs folded beneath the body, decorative panel above; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 1.68 grams, 13 mm
From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s. -
Greek Terracotta Citharode
6th-4th century B.C.Estimate: £1,200 - 1,700 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £600
D-shaped in section with close-cut hairstyle, standing, holding a cithara supported on the left arm, strumming with the right hand. 62 grams, 86 mm
Ex Shlomo Moussaieff (1925-2015), Israel. European private collection. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13107-246791.
The cithara was the instrument of the ‘virtuosi’, the principal concert instrument of the ancient Greeks. Its sound box was made of wood and was much bigger than that of the lyra. Strips of copper or horn were commonly incorporated into it, which resonated in sympathy with the strings, giving a great breath of sound. -
Greek Bronze Hercules and Antaeus Statue Group
Hellenistic, 3rd-1st century B.C.Estimate: £10,000 - 14,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £4,900
Dynamic scene of two nude wrestlers, the giant Antaeus and Hercules, Hercules lifting Antaeus off the ground with his arms, while Antaeus is trying to pry his arms open to regain contact with Mother Earth, which would restore his strength; set on a custom-made display stand. 1.01 kg total, 20.3 cm high including stand
Mallams Oxford. From a UK private collection since the 1970s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13333-258242.
Here, the giant Antaeus is depicted with the more common dimensions of the hero, Hercules. Antaeus was a giant, the son of Neptune and Gaia. Antaeus would challenge all passers-by to wrestling matches and remained invincible as long as he remained in contact with his mother, the Earth. As in Greek wrestling, like its modern equivalent, he typically attempted to force opponents to the ground, and he always won, killing them. He built a temple to his father using the skulls of his defeated opponents. Antaeus fought Hercules as he was on his way to the Garden of Hesperides as his Eleventh Labour. Hercules realised that he could not beat Antaeus by throwing or pinning him. Instead, he held him aloft and then crushed him to death in a bear hug. The scene is famously depicted on a Greek krater dating to the sixth century BC and now in the Louvre, and was a popular subject for Renaissance artists. The episode in which Hercules defeats Antaeus is mentioned in Ovid's Metamorphoses.
