CIRCA 14TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A CYPRO-MINOAN HAEMATITE CYLINDER SEAL
CIRCA 14TH CENTURY B.C.
The slightly convex sides engraved with a central scene of two facing genii holding jugs with a bull's head in between, two lions and a goats head below, a winged disk and Cypro-Minoan characters above, two crossed lions in the upper right, and a secondary scene with a bull-headed human in a long dress holding a sickle in one hand and an inverted lion by its hind leg in the other, and a woman in a long dress holding a goat in one upturned hand, the lion's tail in the other, between them the head of a horned deity and a Cypro-Minoan character, at their feet the bust of a lion, behind the woman a small figure with the head of a human and legs and tail of a lion
1 in. (2.78 cm.) long

Provenance

Acquired by the current owner in 1967.

Literature

J. Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings, London, 1970, pl. 206.

Lot Essay

Boardman (Greek Gems and Finger Rings, p. 64) notes that this seal is an amalgam of Eastern (the horned deity, winged solar disk, and bull-man), Cypriot (the four-character inscription) and Aegean (the Minoan genius with his jug) motifs, which was characteristic of the Cypro-Minoan style.

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