LATE HELLADIC III, CIRCA 1375-1250 B.C.

Details

A MYCENAEAN CARNELIAN AMYGDALOID
LATE HELLADIC III, CIRCA 1375-1250 B.C.
Engraved with two adorsed heraldic griffins, each standing with its crested and beaked head turned back, the forelegs extended, the hind legs bent, with raised sickle-shaped wings, the tail upraised and coiled into a spiral, a drilled knob for the tassel, a trilobate plant below each monster, another above in between them; the reverse ornamented with three shallow grooves along its length
1¼ in. (3.1 cm.) long

Provenance

Margret Köser, Hamburg, acquired from an individual with the initials E.S.S. between 1957-1959; thence by descent.

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Lot Essay

Symmetrical pairings of animals or monsters were popular subjects on Aegean seals during the Late Bronze Age. For pairs of griffins, see the seal impression from Knossos, no. 415 in O. Krzyszkowska, Aegean Seals; a gold signet ring from Prosymna, no. 539, op. cit.; and a seal impression from Pylos, no. 557a, op. cit. For the trilobate plant compare the rock crystal ring with two bulls from Mycenae, now in Boston, no. 4 in J.D. Beazley, The Lewes House Collection of Ancient Gems.

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