ARCHAIC COURT STYLE, CIRCA LATE 6TH- EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GRECO-PERSIAN BLUE CHALCEDONY SCARABOID OF A HERO WITH LION-GRIFFIN
ARCHAIC COURT STYLE, CIRCA LATE 6TH- EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.
1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.) long

Provenance

Paul Julius Arndt (1865-1937), Munich (collection number A1419), said to be from Tarentum.
Giorgio Sangiorgi (1886-1965), Rome, acquired and brought to Switzerland, late 1930s; thence by continuous descent to the current owner.

Literature

F. von Duhn, "Alcune nuove gemme graeco-persiane," in Symbolae litterariae in honorem Julii de Petra, Naples, 1911, p. 40, fig. 3.
J. Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings, London, 1970, p. 309, fig. 280.
J. Boardman and C. Wagner, Masterpieces in Miniature: Engraved Gems from Prehistory to the Present, London, 2018, p. 68, no. 59.

Special notice

This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice. The USA prohibits the purchase by US persons of Iranian-origin “works of conventional craftsmanship” such as carpets, textiles, decorative objects, and scientific instruments. The US sanctions apply to US persons regardless of the location of the transaction or the shipping intentions of the US person. For this reason, Christie’s will not accept bids by US persons on this lot. Non-US persons wishing to import this lot into the USA are advised that they will need to apply for an OFAC licence and that this can take many months to be granted.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

A popular subject for Persian cylinder seals, a Persian royal hero, dressed in a crown and long pleated tunic, is shown here grabbing the horns of two rearing winged lion griffins, the monsters with avian hind legs. For a similar seal in glass in the Metropolitan Museum of Art see inv. no: 64.98.1.

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