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LOT 0503
Mycenaean Terracotta Stirrup Jar
14TH-12TH CENTURY B.C.
3 1/8 in. (106 grams, 79 mm high).
Carinated with slender cylindrical spout, stirrup-type handle and narrow foot; trace remains of painted geometric decoration.
ProvenanceAcquired in Europe before 1994.
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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Greek Black-Glazed Lekythos
5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £572
Squat-bodied with a slender neck, shaped neck and D-section handle. 47 grams, 66 mm
Acquired in Europe before 2001. European collection. -
Greek Marble Funerary Anthemion Stele
4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £17,550
Comprising a tall, plain body with two rosettes; crowned by an elaborate palmette and volute design with shallow acanthus stalks and small rosettes; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 55.6 kg total, 105.5 cm high including stand (95.2 cm without stand)
Private Swiss collection, acquired in the 1980s. with Ward & Co., New York, 2014. Private American collection, K.M., circa 2015-present. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate number S00114167, dated 2 June 2016. 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.11776-204598.
These memorials, originally painted (see gravestone from Paramythion, cf. Brinkmann-Wünsche, 2004, pp.148ff.), were venerated by families, anointed with oil, decorated with ribbons, and graced with offerings of food. They rivalled each other in the increasingly ostentatious display of family status and wealth, so much so that by the end of the 4th century B.C., a sumptuary law was passed, abruptly ceasing their production. In their heyday, these stelae provided sculptors an opportunity to demonstrate their technical virtuosity with both ornamental and figural subjects. It was not unusual for the anthemion to be of higher quality than the figures sculpted and painted below it. -
Greek Silver-Gilt Mask of Silenus
3rd-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,470
Naturalistically modelled in repoussé as the mature and frowning face of the god Silenus; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 9.4 grams, 37 mm (160 grams total, 98 mm high including stand)
Ex old English collection. London art market, 1980s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11849-207741.
In Greek mythology, Silenus was a god of the forest, associated with musical creativity, ecstatic dance and drunkenness. He was also a prophet and a bearer of dire wisdom. When the god Dionysus was born from the thigh of Zeus, Hermes took the infant to live with Silenus, where he was raised together with local nymphs in a cave on mount Nysa. Silenus was frequently present in the train of Dionysus, fought with the latter against the giants, and accompanied him on his adventures.
