CIRCA LATE 5TH-EARLY 4TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GRECO-PERSIAN BLUE CHALCEDONY SCARABOID WITH A GRIFFIN
CIRCA LATE 5TH-EARLY 4TH CENTURY B.C.
.15/16 in. (23 cm.) long

Provenance

with Jean P. Lambros (1843-1909), Athens.
James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk (1827-1905), Kinnaird Castle, Brechin, Scotland, acquired from the above, 1897; thence by descent.
Colonel Ralph Andrew Harari (1893-1969), Cairo and London; thence by descent.
with S.J. Phillips, London, 1976 (The Ralph Harari Collection of Finger Rings, no. 5).
Acquired by the current owner by the 1980s.

Literature

H. Carnegie, ed., Catalogue of the Collection of Antique Gems formed by James Ninth Earl of Southesk K.T., London, 1908, p. 30, no. B12, pl. 3.
J. Boardman and D. Scarisbrick, The Ralph Harari Collection of Finger Rings, London, 1977, p. 14, no. 5.
J. Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings, London, 2001, p. 431, no. 313 (as Greek, Common Style).
H.C.L. Wiegandt, Die griechischen Siegel der klassischen Zeit: ikonographischer Vergleich, Frankfurt am Main, 2009, p. 202, no. Fbbc34, pl. CXLVII.

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

The griffin is a monster of Near Eastern inspiration, but the reclining griffin depicted here, with a serpentine, maned neck, is wholly Hellenized in style (see Boardman, op. cit., 1977, p. 14). Griffins were popular on both the Greek and Greco-Persian series. The undisguised drill work for the paws suggest this is of eastern make, despite having been acquired in Athens in 1897. The gold bezel is a modern addition by Bulgari, NY.

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