HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C.

Details

FIFTEEN GREEK GLASS INTAGLIOS AND FOUR GLASS INTAGLIO RINGS
HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C.
32 mm. long max.

Provenance

G. Sangiorgi collection (1886-1965), Rome.
Private collection, Monaco, 1970s; thence by descent.

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Sale room notice

Please note that the quantity of this lot should read 19.

Brought to you by

Beatrice Campi

bcampi@christies.com +44 (0)20 3219 6159

Lot Essay

Most of these glass gems are characteristic of the Hellenistic shape - oval, with a flat back and convex front. They show, as expected, standing figures of deities in relaxed or leaning postures, including Aphrodite, Apollo and Dionysos. Others show a figure leaning on a pillar, very popular in Hellenistic art. Glass gems like the ones above were reproduced in series from mould to mould over generations of craftsmen, and there is very little individuality in the repetitive subject matter. These gems are called by D. Plantzos, Hellenistic Engraved Gems, Oxford, 1999, p. 73 and passim, accordingly to Pliny's ‘Gems for the Masses’.

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