Greek Terracotta Shipwreck Amphora

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 on 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.

Representing a warrior with conical helmet riding his mount, round earrings. 209 grams, 14 cm high



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.

The most popular animals in Cypriot coroplasts of the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. were horses, with or without riders, with long necks and decorated along the whole body like contemporary ceramics. It is worth remembering that the horse, in this period represented a status symbol for the military aristocracy and that bodies of sacrificed horses have been found in royal tombs.

Biconvex body with trumpet-shaped mouth and two lateral loop handles; painted concentric circles to the body. 330 grams, 15.3 cm



From an old Lebanese family collection moved to Germany in the middle of the 1970s. Acquired from Bonhams, London, 20 October 2005, no.424 (part). From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages and the original Bonhams lot tag.