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_900x900.jpg "Scythian Bronze Mirror with Panther Handle")
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_900x900.jpg "Scythian Bronze Mirror with Panther Handle")
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LOT 0046
Scythian Bronze Mirror with Panther Handle
5TH-4TH CENTURY B.C.
17 3/4 in. (1.8 kg total, 45 cm high including stand).
Comprising a discoid body with raised rim, ribbed handle and openwork stylised panther to the terminal; mounted on a custom-made display stand; some restoration.
ProvenanceAcquired 1971-1972.
From the collection of the vendor's father.
Property of a London, UK, collector.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.202711.
Cf. Trofimova, A., Greeks on the Black Sea: Ancient Art from the Hermitage, J. Paul Getty Museum, 2007, item 29j; see also Leypunskaya, N. A., Olbian-Scythian Trade: Exchange Issues in the Sixth to Fourth Centuries BC, Oxford, 2007.
FootnotesThe 'Olbian type' mirror takes its name from the Greek colony of Olbia, a port on the Black Sea, which enjoyed close commercial links with the neighbouring Scythian territories. Olbian mirrors form an important element in this trade network, although whether the craftsmen who made them were Scythians or Greeks working in Scythian style for the Black Sea market is still undecided. The animal ornament of the mirrors reproduces the zoomorphic art used elsewhere by the Scythian elite.
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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Eastern Greek Carnelian Scarab Seal
6th-5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,200
Modelled with semi-naturalistic anatomical detailing, the base displaying a battle showing a mature and muscular naked man grappling with a winged gryphon; drilled for suspension. 2.29 grams, 16 mm
Ex F.A., Brussels, 1980. Private collection of a London antiquarian.
Combat between a man and gryphon is a well-attested subject matter on Greek scarabs. A faience factory was found in Naukratis by Flinders-Petrie, with innumerable faience and discarded moulds. The motifs on the bottom surface are repetitive and hurriedly worked. They depict lucky symbols or representative subjects (lions with sun disc, ibex, Horus falcons, lotus flowers); such motifs had already been adopted into Greek art but are generally considered typically Egyptian. Here the subject of a fight against a gryphon is Greek, although the style of the fighting character seems Phoenician, which points to Eastern Mediterranean workmanship, possibly on the Island of Rhodes.
