GEOMETRIC PERIOD, CIRCA LATE 8TH-EARLY 7TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GREEK BRONZE GROUP
GEOMETRIC PERIOD, CIRCA LATE 8TH-EARLY 7TH CENTURY B.C.
In the form of two frogs in a copulatory embrace (amplexus), the smaller male positioned on top of his mate with his forelegs wrapped around her neck, his right foot overlapping his left, both with their hind legs extending out horizontally, the female with her forelegs extending forward, both with large round pellet eyes and a wide open mouth
1¼ in. (3.2 cm.) long

Literature

A.P. Kozloff, ed., Animals in Ancient Art From the Leo Mildenberg Collection, Cleveland, 1981, no. 81.
U. Gehrig, ed., Tierbilder aus vier Jahrtausenden, Antiken der Sammlung Mildenberg, Mainz am Rhein, 1983, no. 81.
G. Zahlhaas, Aus Noahs Arche, Tierbilder de Sammlung Mildenberg aus fünf Jahrtausenden, Part IV, Mainz am Rhein, 1996, no. 12.
P.E. Mottahedeh, ed., Out of Noah's Ark, Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, Jerusalem, 1997, no. 12.

Lot Essay

According to Mitten (Kozloff, ed., op. cit.) this unique group, thought to have come from Philia in Thessaly, "may have been offered to a divinity as a request or thank-offering for fertility or sexual vigor; it may also have served as a talisman or charm to enhance sexual powers or prevent their decline. Whatever its intended use, it surely was made and used with a twinkle in the eye of the owner and beholder alike."

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