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_900x900.jpg "Minoan Bronze Double Axehead")
_200x200.jpg "Minoan Bronze Double Axehead")
_900x900.jpg "Minoan Bronze Double Axehead")
_200x200.jpg "Minoan Bronze Double Axehead")
.jpg "Minoan Bronze Double Axehead")
.jpg "Minoan Bronze Double Axehead")
LOT 0037
Minoan Bronze Double Axehead
CIRCA 2000 B.C.
6 7/8 in. (973 grams, 17.5 cm).
Substantial labrys with flared and curved edges, elliptoid socket to the centre. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceGifted to the previous owner's husband by his grandfather prior to 1919 while in Crete.
Taken to Paris and brought to the UK before 1985.
Acquired from Bonhams, London, 20 October 2005, no.124.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages.
Cf. D'Amato, R., Salimbeti, A., Early Aegean Warrior 5000-1450 BC, Oxford, 2013, fig. p.37, for similar.
FootnotesThe double axe was both a tool, weapon and one of the main religious symbol in Minoan Crete. It was as significant and as important in Minoan religious practice as the ritual horn and the pillar.
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
AUCTIONS:
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Circa 323-31 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £585
Hammered from a thin gold leaf, a repoussé border of small pellets to the outer edge; mounted in custom-made perspex case with fabric backing. 72 grams total, 12.3 cm wide (18.2 cm wide including perspex mount)
Ex European collection, 1960s. Accompanied by a previous catalogue information slip. -
Greek and Other Pottery Sherd Group
Circa 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Mixed group including amphora, lekythos, bowl and other fragments. 1.06 kg total, 3.4-12.4 cm
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. -
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Greek Archaic Laconian Black-Figure Kylix Fragment Group Attributed to the Rider Painter
550-540 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,820
Comprising six fragments from a bowl once decorated with concentric circles around a central disc with expanding black rays, remains of palmette to the sides of the handle; the internal base with two facing warriors holding spears and a wreath, the older one depicted with a beard. 67 grams total, 34-89 mm
Acquired in Europe before 1990. Private collection, Europe. 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.11820-206481.
The Rider Painter was a Laconian vase painter active between 560 and 530 B.C. and is considered to be one of the five great vase painters of Sparta. He painted various forms predominantly kylikes but also lebetes, a form rare in this area. He mainly painted scenes from mythology, such as figures like Cadmos or Heracles, and tales such as the blinding of Polyphemus. In addition, he realised pictures from everyday life. The attribution of these fragments to his workmanship can be supported by the motifs painted on the exterior decoration of the vessel, and by the shape of the birds and figures. The illustrated scene fits within the warrior society of Spartan Laconia.
