HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GREEK PARCEL GILT SILVER BOWL
HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C.
Hemispherical in form with an out-turned rim, the decoration on the exterior enhanced by careful tooling and gilding, centered by a two-tiered rosette from which rises four large nymphea caerulea petals alternating with four "windblown" acanthus leaves, their tips curving to the left or right, with smaller acanthus leaves superimposed over the nymphea and vice versa, the spaces in between the large petals and leaves filled with scrolling tendrils with buds and blossoms, a band of guilloche above
5 3/8 in. (13.6 cm.) diameter

Provenance

with Robert Haber & Associates, New York, 1992 (Artemis Annual Report of 1991-1992, p. 8, no. 1).

Literature

M. Dayagi-Mendels, Drink and Be Merry, Wine and Beer in Ancient Times, Jerusalem, 1999, p. 87.

Exhibited

Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, Drink and Be Merry, Wine and Beer in Ancient Times, June - December 1999.

Lot Essay

Silver bowls with floral decoration were widespread in the Hellenistic Period. Some were made in two parts and have their ornament in high relief, while others, as here, are made from one piece, with the decoration executed in extremely low relief. The present bowl finds its closest parallel with one in the Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich, fig. 43 in Pfrommer, Metalwork from the Hellenized East. For a high relief example in Toledo and a discussion of the type see p. 79 in Oliver, Silver for the Gods, 800 Years of Greek and Roman Silver.

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