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LOT 0094
Large Greek Red-Figure Skyphos with Owl
SOUTH ITALIAN, 5TH-4TH CENTURY B.C.
6 7/8 in. (239 grams, 17.5 cm).
With mammiform body, pedestal base and two loop handles; each side with a facing image of an owl between laurel fronds.
ProvenanceSwiss private collection, assembled in the 1960s-1970s.
Private collection, acquired in 2013.
Accompanied by a thermoluminescence analysis report no.N126a14 from Oxford Authentication.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12854-241751.
See Johnson, F. B., ‘An Owl Skyphos’, in Mylonas, G., Studies Presented to David Moore Robinson on His Seventieth Birthday, vol. 2, St. Louis, 1953, pp.96-105.
FootnotesBubo was the holy beloved magical owl of the goddess Athena, and it was a common subject on Greek painted ceramics. The owl-skyphos, originally produced in 5th century Athens, was extremely popular and was exported from Athens to other parts of the Greek world, including southern Italy and Etruria. Local imitations have been excavated at Corinth, and during the fourth century, or perhaps even slightly earlier, skyphoi similar to those from Athens were produced in Apulia and Etruria.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
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A copper-lead alloy columnar block with broad piercing, a transverse channel to the upper face; incuse bee image with enigmatic text. 13.71 grams, 19 mm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. -
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Greek Terracotta Gnathian-Ware Alabastron
Apulian, circa 3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,235
Piriform in profile with a carinated rim to the mouth, a low basal ring; horizontal bands and a hatched panel, concentric rings. 255 grams, 14.5 cm
Louis-Gabriel Bellon (1819-1899) collection, France. European private collection, 2009.
Among the shapes of pottery that are also mostly represented in the Gnathian style are lekanides, bombilyoi and alabastra. They were containers for ointments and perfumes, used in funerary contexts during the first phase of the ritual, when the body needed to be treated and prepared for the burial. -
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Eastern Greek Marble Figure of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty
1st century B.C.-1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,200
Carved in the round figure of the goddess standing nude with one hand raised and the other on her pudendum, her hair gathered into a chignon with lateral bunches on the crown and with voids to allow for the suspension of small gold earrings; putto at her left knee; left hand partly absent; remounted on a socle base. 1.2 kg, 32.7 cm
Acquired in the 1992. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12860-241669.
Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, was one of the most widely worshipped deities in the ancient world, particularly across the eastern Greek regions of Asia Minor. In these areas, her image often blended traditional Greek ideals with local influences, giving rise to distinctive regional styles. Marble figures such as this would have served not only as works of art but also as expressions of devotion, reflecting both personal piety and broader cultural values surrounding beauty, fertility, and desire. The enduring popularity of Aphrodite’s image speaks to her central role in daily life, where she was invoked not just in matters of love, but also in marriage, prosperity, and well-being.
