CIRCA LATE 5TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

AN ETRUSCAN CARNELIAN SCARAB WITH TWO ATHLETES
CIRCA LATE 5TH CENTURY B.C.
11/16 in. (1.7 cm.) long

Provenance

Robinson collection.
Wyndham Francis Cook (1860-1905), London; thence by descent to his son, Humphrey W. Cook (1893-1978), London.
An Important Collection of Greek, Roman and Etruscan Antiquities and Antique and Renaissance Gems, the Property of Humphrey W. Cook, Esq.; Christie's, London, 14-16 July, 1925, lot 46.
Giorgio Sangiorgi (1886-1965), Rome, acquired and brought to Switzerland, late 1930s; thence by continuous descent to the current owner.

Literature

C. H. Smith and C. A. Hutton, Catalogue of the Antiquities (Greek, Roman and Etruscan) in the Collection of the Late Wyndham Francis Cook, Esq., London, 1908, p. 15, no. 47, pl. 2.
J. Boardman and C. Wagner, Masterpieces in Miniature: Engraved Gems from Prehistory to the Present, London, 2018, p. 93, no. 81.

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.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The high sided beetle with cross-hatched plinth. The underside shows an unusual athlete scene with two figures, rather than one, which is the more common type seen on Etruscan scarabs. A naked bearded man holding a strigil and in his raised hand a short arrow or club is depicted here with his head turned in conversation with a naked youth, leaning on a long staff, wearing a dotted cloak or animal skin, and a conical, long-tailed cap hanging down his back, the exergue filled in with cross-hatching. There is a similar composition with Herakles and Hermes conversing on an Etruscan scarab of the same date, in the British Museum, inv. no. 1867,0507.350.

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