Greek Terracotta Spindle Flask

Discoid body and short tubular neck with everted rim, two loop handles. 561 grams, 19.2 cm



Ex London, UK gallery, 1971-early 2000s. Private collection, London.

A gold necklace or diadem composed of twenty-two articulated units each in the form of a complex shields terminating in finials decorated with palmettes executed in filigree; body consists of shield-shaped jet(?) elements with a central rhomboid panel, joined above and below by triangular sections decorated with granulated triangles; the perimeter of each shield framed by a soldered beaded wire; at the centre of each rhomboid panel, an embossed appliqué mask in low relief; to the reverse of each element, two vertically aligned loops formed from narrow gold strips and intended for articulation; offered in a lined wooden display case. 22.5 grams, 21.6 cm



Ex M. Velensky collection, London, UK, 1990s. Accompanied by a copy of a four page examination report number 90/2015 by Dr habil Mikhail Treister. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13104-248043.

The terminals are comparatively rare survivals, decorated with palmettes in filigree, a feature only occasionally attested among comparable assemblages from Bosporan contexts. The overall typology, decorative programme, and construction techniques closely parallel examples recovered from well-documented burials at Phanagoria, Pantikapaion, Tanais, and Tsukur-Liman. Comparable necklaces combining shield elements with embossed human heads are particularly characteristic of the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. According to the examination conducted by Dr habil. Mikhail Treister, there is nothing to challenge the authenticity of the object. The specific form, restricted geographic distribution, and close parallels suggest manufacture within a workshop of the Bosporan Kingdom, most plausibly in Phanagoria, one of its principal production centres during the Hellenistic period.

Comprising a square base with a raised border and supported by four stub feet, each originally surmounted by poppy-head finials (some absent); a hollow-formed figure of a banqueteer reclining elegantly with his weight resting on his left elbow, his right leg drawn up beneath the folds of a finely pleated robe; in his right hand, a ram’s head rhyton and his left hand cradling a skyphos; his bearded head with a laurel wreath. 1.58 kg, 25 cm



Private New York collection, formed in the 1960s. Acquired on the North American art market, 1990s. with Cahn Auktionen AG, Basel, Switzerland, 13 November 2015, no.84 (CHF 18,000). 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.12379-226873.

The composition reflects the iconography of elite banquet culture in the ancient world, capturing both refinement and ritual in a single expressive figure. The Greek 'συμπόσιον' 'symposium' was the later part of a formal banquet which took place after the food had been consumed, when the serving of strong drink was accompanied by music, dancing, poetic composition or recital or earnest conversation. The custom has similarities with the Roman convivium and with the customs of many Mediterranean and Western Asiatic people. The Parthian Empire was culturally diverse and included many Hellenic groups; the Arsacid court adopted a range of aspects of contemporary Greek culture, among them Greek military structures and the Greek language as a lingua franca alongside the Parthian (Iranian) language and Aramaic.