SELEUCID, CIRCA 3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GREEK SILVER LADLE (KYATHOS)
SELEUCID, CIRCA 3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C.
Cast in two pieces, the hemispherical bowl with twenty-nine long petals radiating from the rounded base, undercut and flaring outward at their tips, the zoomorphic handle joined to the flat rim of the bowl, the lower end of the shaft in the form of the splayed legs and hind quarters of an ibex, the cloven hooves attentively detailed, the shaft rectangular in section with a central ridge along the interior, rounded at the top recalling the form of the petals along the bowl, the handle curving outward and terminating in an elaborate head of an ibex, the arching horns with transverse ridges, with wide flaring ears, large bulging eyes within heavy lids and a short curving beard, the fur deeply incised along the head and neck and along the forehead, the mouth and nose rendered by incision
13¾ in.(34.9 cm.) high

Provenance

with Kunsthandel Bernard Blondeel NV, Paris and Antwerp, 1998.

Lot Essay

The production of the ladle in precious metal found wide appeal in the Greek world from the Archaic Period onward. The early examples invariably are manufactured with a shallow bowl, the handle terminal usually in the form of a simple duck head or calf head (see, for example, nos. 24-31, pp. 83-86 in Özgen and Öztürk, Heritage Recovered, The Lydian Treasure). The bowl deepened and took a hemispherical form in the Hellenistic Period around 200 B.C. (see pp. 115-116 and pl. 34 in Strong, Greek and Roman Gold and Silver Plate). For two fluted drinking bowls with similar petals with undercut tips, dated 175-75 B.C., see nos. 115a-b in True, et al., A Passion for Antiquities; Ancient Art from the Collection of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman.

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