A GREEK PARCEL GILT SILVER LADLE

HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GREEK PARCEL GILT SILVER LADLE
HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.
Cast with a shallow bowl, a long strap handle and backward-curving hook terminating in a well-modelled head of a caracal cat, its mouth open revealing fangs, the handle with ridged, concave sides, the ridges extending into coiled volutes, the flat back engraved with a foliate pattern and gilt, the bowl rim offset on the exterior by a horizontal groove, the underside with incised concentric circles
9½ in. (23.9 cm.) long

Provenance

Acquired by the current owner in 1988.

Lot Essay

Most ladles of the Hellenistic Period have a handle that terminates in the head of a duck. This type was also favored by the Etruscans and Romans. According to Oliver (Silver for the Gods, 800 Years of Greek and Roman Silver, p. 115) feline terminals are comparatively rare. For a related example in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, see no. 75 in Oliver, op. cit.

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