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LOT 0043
'The Metropolitan Museum of Art' Cypriot Limestone Votive Head of a Man
CIRCA 5TH CENTURY B.C.
5 1/8 in. (367 grams total, 13.1 cm high including stand).
Finely carved votive head with almond-shaped eyes and strong nose, lips set to a gentle smile, typical of the Greek kouroi of this period, wearing a conical headdress leaving the ears exposed; set on its original base from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York with item number '163' and three sale labels on the base.
ProvenanceLikely discovered by Luigi Palma di Cesnola in Cyprus, 1860s-70s.
Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, likely acquired from the above in 1872.
Collection of Ira Martin, New York, acquired from the above on 12 March 1926.
with Christie’s, New York, Antiquities, 5 June 1998, no.133.
Private collection, thence by descent.
Exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, c.1872-1926.
LiteratureSee a figure in the British Museum, London, from the Sanctuary of Apollo, BM 1910,0620.9, for a similar votive.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0043
'The Metropolitan Museum of Art' Cypriot Limestone Votive Head of a Man
Estimate £700 - 900€810 - 1,040 (for guidance only)$950 - 1,220 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£350 (EUR 406; USD 473) +BP*
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Large Greek Bronze Double-Headed Animal Terminal
Geometric, 8th-6th century B.C.Estimate: £1,200 - 1,700 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £600
Comprising a crescent body with a slender neck at each end, topped by a bird-head with a rectangular crest, vertical legs with raised block detailing conjoined at the lower end into a mounting peg. 55.6 grams, 86 mm
Ex collection Mr K.H., Germany. Private collection, acquired in 2012. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13077-246757.
Bird figures, standing on plates or discs, are found as votives mainly in Northern Greek sanctuaries of the Geometric Age. They should be regarded as symbolic and sometimes modest gifts to the gods. Some birds were also designed as pendants. The present fitting resembles a rooster, but it could also represent a peacock, and hence is connected with the goddess Hera. -
Greek Bronze Bracelet with Animal Heads
Hellenistic, circa 3rd-2nd century B.C.Estimate: £60 - 80 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Penannular bracelet with D-section body and the finials formed as stylised animal heads. 33.52 grams, 60 mm
From a UK collection formed in the 1980s. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman. -
Greek Red-Figure Bell Krater with Satyr and Eros
Apulia, circa 450-400 B.C.Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £833
With laurel-leaf wreath beneath the flared rim, band of meander ornament as a baseline; Side A: striding satyr with torch and oinochoe followed by Eros holding a scroll behind; Side B: woman wearing a himation in active pose with sphere advancing towards a tendril. 814 grams, 20 cm
Acquired on the art market between the late 1990s and mid-2000s. Estate of the late Barry Paul Buxton (1944-2024), Oakham, Rutland. Acquired on the UK art market, 2025. 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 no.13070-249284.
Often, the iconography of an 'elevated' mythological subject was applied to members of Dionysos' retinue. Here we have three typical examples of them: a satyr, an Eros, and a woman, all three behaving according to Bacchic ecstasies.
