Lot 99
99
A GREEK PALE GREEN STEATITE AMYGDALOID "ISLAND GEM"
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION
A GREEK PALE GREEN STEATITE AMYGDALOID "ISLAND GEM"

CIRCA EARLY 6TH CENTURY B.C.

Details
A GREEK PALE GREEN STEATITE AMYGDALOID "ISLAND GEM"
Circa Early 6th Century B.C.
Each side with a crouching lion with its head turned back and its tail upraised, one facing left, one facing right
7/8 in. (2.2 cm) long
Provenance
John Dawkins Esq., former British Consul to Greece
Important Egyptian, Near Eastern, Luristan, Greek and Roman Antiquities, Sotheby's London, 19 June 1961, lot 23
Literature
Boardman, Island Gems, no. 95.
Sale room notice
Please note that one side of this two-sided gem has been illustrated twice in the catalogue.

Lot Essay

"Island Gems" are generally cut from soft stone; their shapes (amygdaloid and lentoid) inspired by chance finds of earlier Bronze Age gems. As Boardman states (Greek Gems and Finger Rings, p. 118) these gems were "collected assiduously in the last century, especially on Melos," which is where most of them were likely made.

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