ARCHAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 7TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A NORTH GREEK BRONZE VOTIVE MACE HEAD
ARCHAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 7TH CENTURY B.C.
The shaft with two incised vertical bands of chevrons and circular bosses with crossed-section, the flaring conical head with three vertical raised bands with incised chevrons and ribbed section of alternating horizontal bands with incised chevrons and bulbous ridges, broad curved head plate, three horizontal struts protuding from shaft with incised cross-hatch and chevron details, decorated with ram's head, two coiled snakes, mouse, and two seated birds
6¼ in. (16 cm.) long

Provenance

The Thétis Collection, Geneva, Switzerland; acquired prior to 1970.

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Lot Essay

PUBLISHED:
J.-L. Zimmermann, Collection de la Fondation Thétis, Geneva, 1987, p. 137, no. 50.

Clearly influenced by bronze mace heads from the Near East, several examples similar to this have been found in the sanctuaries of Northern Greece, particularly at Olympia and Dodona. Cf. A. Furtwängler, Olympia IV, 1890, p. 71ff., pl. 53, 4, no. 528 for a mace head found at Olympia with a similarly shaped head, and A. de Ridder, Les bronzes antiques du Louvre II, Paris, 1915, p. 9, pl. 68, no. 1183 for another found at Dodona decorated with bulls' heads and birds.

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