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LOT 0062
Large Greek Bronze Double-Headed Animal Terminal
GEOMETRIC, 8TH-6TH CENTURY B.C.
3 3/8 in. (55.6 grams, 86 mm).
Comprising a crescentic body with a slender neck at each end, topped by a bird-head with a rectangular crest, vertical legs with raised block detailing conjoined at the lower end into a mounting peg.
ProvenanceEx collection Mr K.H., Germany.
Private collection, acquired in 2012.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13077-246757.
Cf. for similar fittings, Christiansen, J., Greece in the Geometric Period, Copenhagen, 1992, figs.70ff., esp.40,44,49-50.
FootnotesBird figures, standing on plates or discs, are found as votives mainly in Northern Greek sanctuaries of the Geometric Age. They should be regarded as symbolic and sometimes modest gifts to the gods. Some birds were also designed as pendants. The present fitting resembles a rooster, but it could also represent a peacock, and hence is connected with the goddess Hera.
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LOT 0062
Large Greek Bronze Double-Headed Animal Terminal
Estimate £1,200 - 1,700€1,390 - 1,970 (for guidance only)$1,620 - 2,300 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£600 (EUR 696; USD 810) ‡+BP*
-
Etruscan Bronze Handle Pair with Heads of Medusa
6th-5th century B.C.Estimate: £10,000 - 14,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5,000
Each formed as a D-shaped fluted bar with the finials formed as grotesque Medusa heads (gorgoneia) in Archaic Greek style with protruding tongue and a pair of bearded snakes framing her forehead; mounted on custom-made display stands. 683 grams total including stand, handle: 10.9-11 cm wide
Ex private collection of Athos Moretti, Bellinzona, Switzerland, in the 1960s. with Christie's, London, 14 June 1978, lot 344. with Sotheby's, New York, 29 May 1987, lot 154. 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 search certificate number no.11773-204596. -
Thracian Silver Twisted Torc
5th century B.C.Estimate: £600 - 800 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £300
Penannular torc twisted around its axis with tapering finials. 221 grams, 19.7 cm
Acquired in the early 1970s. Private collection, Suffolk. -
Greek Black-Glazed Twin-Handled Stemless Kylix with Swan
Apulia, 4th century B.C.Estimate: £600 - 800 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £300
Shallow with arched loop handles below the rim, low stepped foot; tondo with painted wreath of laurel leaves surrounding a standing swan in profile; to the outer face, two horizontal sprigs of laurel leaves; possibly by the Swan painter. 206 grams, 20.6 cm
Bonhams, Knightsbridge, London, 5 July 1994, no.43. Private collection, Suffolk. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams cataloguing pages.