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LOT 0081
Greek Terracotta Venus and Triton Group
1ST CENTURY B.C.
7 1/8 in. (688 grams, 18 cm high).
Both figures represented facing with bare chests, Aphrodite sitting next to the triton and holding himation over her head with her right hand, her right leg raised and the left extended, the lower part of her himation covering the lower half of her body; the lower part of Triton’s body covered by marine foliage, from which the long serpentine tail emerges on the opposite side next to Aphrodite's right leg; possibly from Asia Minor; repaired.
ProvenanceEx French Sorbonne archaeology professor (deceased); 1960s-2000s.
Accompanied by an original thermoluminescence analysis report no.QED2323/FG-0201 from the QED Laboratory, Marseille, France.
Cf. Higgins, R.A., Greek Terracottas, London, 1967, pl. 55C, for a similar terracotta in Myrina style, representing Eros and Psyche; pl.52B, for a similar head of Aphrodite.
FootnotesMany of the Smyrna and Myrina figures are feminine, the heads modelled in late Hellenistic style. The bodies are often either draped in Tanagra-style robes, or represented as figures of Aphrodite, draped, semi-nude or naked. The association with Triton is linked with the Greek myth of Aphrodite born from sea foam.
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Cypriot Terracotta Figurine
6th-5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £780
Modelled in the half-round, the figure wearing a conical hood with open front, detailed facial features and ribbed beard, left arm bent, right arm drawn across the body in the folds of a mantle, vertical border to the left chest; mounted on a custom-made stand. 48 grams, 83 mm (69 grams total, 10.9 cm high including stand)
Ex Julien Gréau (1810–1895) who was an omnivorous French collector with a predilection for antiquities. Collection of Louis-Gabriel Bellon (1819-1899), Saint-Nicolas-lez-Arras and Rouen, thence by descent. with Millon & Associes Auctions, Paris, 6th December 2021, lot 41 [Part]. Accompanied by a copy of Collection J. Gréau, Terres Cuites Grecques, by H. Hoffmann, 1891, where this piece is published. -
Hellenistic Terracotta Head of the Goddess Demeter
Circa 2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £780
Hollow-formed and with rounded facial features; wavy hair with central partition, dressed with a tall diadem. 74 grams total, 78 mm high
UK private collection. Acquired Spink, York, UK, 2009. Property of a Nottinghamshire gentleman.
The head is probably from a cult statuette of Demeter. Statuettes of the goddess, seated or standing, or even busts, are well documented in the south of Italy, both among the Greek colonists and the local populations; many have been excavated from regional sanctuaries. -
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Black ceramic with broad bowl and two loop handles, short stem and trumpet-shaped foot; bowl with fluted carination; repaired. 339 grams, 18.5 cm wide
From the Steel family collection, 1950s-late 1990s.