English
العربية
Nederlands
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
Svenska
Greek Gold Griffin Protome
Greek · ca. 7th century B.C.
Material
Gold
Dimensions
H: 4 cm (1.5 in)
Reference
35430
Price
POR
Inquire
Overview
Masterfully executed sculptural jewel of monumental quality, representing a griffin, the hybrid mythological animal with the body of a lion and the wings and head of an eagle. It is the creature that projects strength in its duality. The gold-guarding griffins were associated with gold deposits in the Black Sea region. Indeed, as Pliny, the Elder wrote: “griffins were said to lay eggs in burrows on the ground and these nests contained gold nuggets.” This miniature masterwork would have been attached to a small gold ceremonial cauldron.
Provenance
Art market, prior to 2001;
The Gilbert Collection, Cambridge, Massachusetts, was acquired in Geneva, 13 November 2001.
Published
The Gilbert Collection: by Phoenix Ancient Art, New York, 2019, no. 153
Exhibited
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2002 – 2014;
La Biennale, Grand Palais, Paris, 11-17 September 2019;
PAD London, Berkeley Square, London, 30 September 6 – October 2019
Archaic Greek Bronze Statuette of a Sphinx
Greek · Archaic, (Corinth or Sicyon), middle of the 6th Century B.C.
Roman Silver Lamp representing a Dove
Roman · 1st - 2nd century A.D.
Egyptian Faience Statuette of a Hippopotamus
Egyptian · Middle Kingdom (Dynasty 11-13, ca. 2040-1650 B.C.)
Mesopotamian Rock Crystal Statuette of a Leopard
Near Eastern · Proto-sumerian, ca. 3000 B.C.
Greek Bronze Statuette of an Attacking Lion
Greek · End of 5th Century B.C. - early 4th Century B.C.
Egyptian Faience Statuette of the Goddess Taweret
Egyptian · New Kingdom-Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1000 B.C.)
Archaic Greek Bronze Recumbent Lion
Greek · Mid 6th century B.C.
Greek Bronze Mirror with Helen and Paris
Late 4th century B.C.
Roman Bronze Statuette of a Togate Youth
Roman · Imperial,1st century A.D.
Archaic Greek Bronze Statuette of a Sphinx
Greek · Archaic, (Corinth or Sicyon), middle of the 6th Century B.C.
Hellenistic Greek Silver Bowl with Gilded Acanthus Tondo
Late 3rd - 2nd century B.C.
Greek Bronze Handle of a Volute Krater
Late Hellenistic, 1st Century B.C.
Greek Bronze Statuette of an Actor
Greek, Greek, Greek, Greek · Attic, first half of the 4th Century B.C.
Near Eastern Copper Bowl with a Procession of Animals
Near Eastern · Sumerian or Elamite, early 3rd Millennium B.C.
Archaic Greek Bronze Statuette of a Sphinx
Greek · Archaic, (Corinth or Sicyon), middle of the 6th Century B.C.
Archaic Greek Marble Seated Figure with Dedicatory Inscription
End of the 6th century B.C.
Egyptian Wood Figure of a Man
Late Old Kingdom, Dynasty 6-8, ca. 2345-2160 B.C.
Babylonian Stone Weight
ca. 1400-1200 B.C.
Egyptian Alabaster Headrest with an Inscription
Old Kingdom, 6th Dynasty ,ca. 2345-2181 B.C.
Neolithic Aegean Marble Idol
Greek, Greek, Greek · 5th-4th millennium B.C.
Egyptian Faience Figural Support of an Incense Burner or Lamp
Egyptian · Ptolemaic Period (end of the 3rd-2nd century B.C.)
Greek Bronze Mirror with Helen and Paris
Late 4th century B.C.
Archaic Greek Bronze Statuette of a Sphinx
Greek · Archaic, (Corinth or Sicyon), middle of the 6th Century B.C.
Archaic Greek Marble Seated Figure with Dedicatory Inscription
End of the 6th century B.C.
Hellenistic Greek Silver Bowl with Gilded Acanthus Tondo
Late 3rd - 2nd century B.C.
Greek Bronze Handle of a Volute Krater
Late Hellenistic, 1st Century B.C.
Greek Gold Crescent-Shaped Pendant
1st century B.C.
Neolithic Aegean Marble Idol
Greek, Greek, Greek · 5th-4th millennium B.C.
Roman Polychrome Jewelry Set in Gold, Pearls and Precious Stones
Roman, Roman, Roman · 1st-2nd Century A.D.
Greek Gold Crescent-Shaped Pendant
1st century B.C.
Byzantine Braided Gold Necklace with a Medallion representing Fortune and Bellerophon and A Bracelet with Pseudo-Medallions
Byzantine · 6th century A.D.
Hellenistic Greek Gold Jewelry group with Alexander the Great Cameo
Greek · Late Hellenistic, 2nd - 1st century B.C.
Near Eastern Gold Circular Censer
Mid to late 3rd millennium BC
Princely Byzantine Gold Necklace with Large Pendants of Pearls, Sapphires and Emeralds
Byzantine · 6th-7th century A.D.
Merovingian Rock Crystal Bead
ca. 5th-6th century A.D.
