Lot 93
93
A GREEK TERRACOTTA GROUP OF APHRODITE AND EROS
A GREEK TERRACOTTA GROUP OF APHRODITE AND EROS
A GREEK TERRACOTTA GROUP OF APHRODITE AND EROS
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A GREEK TERRACOTTA GROUP OF APHRODITE AND EROS

HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C.

Details
A GREEK TERRACOTTA GROUP OF APHRODITE AND EROS
HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C.
12 in. (30.5 cm.) high
Provenance
Monnaies grecques et romaines, Objets d'art de l'antiquité classique, Münzen & Medaillen, Basel, Auktion X, 22 June 1951, lot 384.
Fridolin (1903-1969) and Halina (1907-1989) Schwitter-Lagutt Collection, Basel, acquired from the above sale.
Literature
K. Schefold, Meisterwerke griechischer Kunst, Basel, 1960, p. 278, no. 385.
Exhibited
On loan to the Antikenmuseum, Basel, 1971-2022.
Special notice
This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

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Lot Essay

This group reputedly comes from Myrina. For a similar group of Aphrodite carrying Eros from Sicily see R. A. Higgins, Greek Terracottas, London, 1967, p. 125, no 6, pl. 59D. These groups represent the popular game of Ephedrismos, in which a player carried another on her shoulders as a forfeit. It was a game that was particularly popular with girls and young woman; a stone was thrown on the ground and the players would take it in turns throwing pebbles to try and knock the stone over. The loser had to cover their eyes and carry the winner on her back until she found and touched the original stone. Representations of Aphrodite and Eros playing the game would be consistent with the fact that this game had connections to the young girls being betrothed to be married.

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