Details

LOT 0107

Roman Gold Pendant with Bust of Athena Parthenos Gemstone

1ST CENTURY AD

1" (2.07 grams, 23mm).

A red jasper gemstone with a gold mount, depicting the bust of goddess Athena Parthenos (Greek Minerva), wearing the Pseudo-Attic three-crested helmet of Athena Promachos, aegis upon her breast. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Property of a gentleman from Vienna; from his private collection; previously acquired in Munich, Germany, between 1992 and 1996; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10906-179190.

Literature

See Zwierlein-Diehl, Antike Gemmen und ihr Nachleben, Bonn, 2007, pp.408ff., fig.436.

Footnotes

The imagery on the gemstone is based on a famous model, which the gem-cutter Aspasios created in the 3rd quarter of the 1st century BC. It shows the bust of Athena Parthenos of Phidias made in red jasper and signed by Aspasios, today in the National Museum in Rome. The gem-cutter of our gem omitted certain details, such as the lance, and depicted the bust the other way round.

CONDITION