CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GRECO-PERSIAN BLUE CHALCEDONY SCARABOID WITH A WINGED SPHINX
CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.
1 1/8 in. (2.8 cm.) wide

Provenance

Private Collection, Newton, MA, brought from Iran to the U.S., 1983.
Private Collection, Boston.
Property of a New England Collector; Antiquities, Christie's, New York, 18 December 1998, lot 211.

Literature

H.C.L. Wiegandt, Die griechischen Siegel der klassischen Zeit: ikonographischer Vergleich, Frankfurt am Main, 2009, p. 190, no. Fbad14, pl. CXXXVII.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

The scaraboid presented here is in the “Hellenizing” style which is connected to the Greco-Persian series on account of style but not by subject. Depicted here is a winged sphinx wearing what appears to be a visored helmet purely Greek in style. It is very close to and perhaps by the same hand as a sphinx in Geneva wearing a pilos helmet, pl. 956 in Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings.

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