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Click here to subscribeAn 18th Century Irish cavalry officers sword, by O'Brien, Cork, the single edged curved blade 29in. (74cms) long, with engraved maker's name and foliate work, the hilt with brass bow guard, ebonised wire bound grip and lion mask pommel, the leather scabbard fitted brass mounts, one engraved maker's mark, 35in. (89cms) long overall.
A Victorian portrait miniature pendant on chain, the central portrait miniature of a Mr. Wallis, with short grey hair, long side whiskers, wearing a bow tie and black jacket, in a pendant mount set with twenty-four rose cut diamonds and eight trefoils of half pearls, engraved to reverse 'Presented to Mrs. Wallis by the Directors of the South Shields Gas Coy, as a token of respect for her husband, June 1882', the tapering bale set with three further half pearls, on a hollow cast yellow metal button link chain, the pendant 8cms high including bale, chain 50cms long, in original fitted case retailed by Reid & Sons, Newcastle upon Tyne.
A quantity of amethyst set jewellery, to include: a brooch with central oval facet cut amethyst set in yellow metal of floral design; a cross pattern pendant, centred by an oval facet cut amethyst and seed pears to each terminal; and Edwardian drop pendant of circlet form, topped with a bow set with seven amethysts and various seed pearls; a pair of stud earrings set with oval facet cut amethysts; and an amethyst brooch in floral white metal mount.
A Victorian garnet set bow pattern brooch, the rose cut garnets set throughout and with small drop below, mounted in yellow metal, 4cms wide; and a yellow metal oval Etruscan style Victorian brooch, decorated with floral designs, beadwork and scrollwork, seed pearl terminals, stamped '15ct.' to reverse, 4cms wide. (2)
Norwegian enamelled jewellery, to include, Ivar T. Holth: a twisted bow pattern brooch with white guilloche enamel decoration, set in silver gilt, 6cms wide; Aksel Holmsen: a pair of crescent pattern earrings, with white guilloche enamel and in silver gilt, each 2cms wide; and David Andersen: a bracelet of leaf links, with white guilloche enamel in silver gilt, 18cms long. (3)
Fernand Maillaud, French 1863-1948- Field workers with an oxen and cart on a hillside; oil on board, signed, 33x41cm (may be subject to Droit de Suite) CONDITION REPORT: in a gilt composition provincial Louis style frame, bow overpainted in gold coloured paint frame dates from the early 20th century board is bowed convex paint surface has not been cleaned and is a little dirty and yellowed otherwise good condition
Lucania, Herakleia AR Stater. Time of Pyrrhos of Epeiros, circa 281-278 BC. Leon-, magistrate. Head of Athena facing slightly right, wearing triple-crested Attic helmet decorated with Skylla throwing a stone; AP to left / |-HPAK?EI?N, Herakles standing facing, holding club in right hand and bow in left, lion skin draped over left arm; ?E?N to right. SNG ANS -; HN Italy 1389; Van Keuren 91. 7.78g, 22mm, 5h. About Good Very Fine. Very Rare.
Lucania, Herakleia AR Stater. Time of Pyrrhos of Epeiros, circa 281-278 BC. Filo-, magistrate. Head of Athena facing slightly right, wearing triple-crested Attic helmet decorated with Skylla throwing a stone; monogram to left / |-HPAK?EI?N, Herakles standing facing, holding club in right hand and bow and arrow in left, lion skin draped over left arm; to left, Nike flying right, crowning him with wreath; HA to lower left, ?I?? to outer right. Van Keuren 92; HN Italy 1390. 7.74g, 23mm, 6h. Near Extremely Fine; some smoothing on obv. fields.
Crete, Phaistos AR Stater. Mid 4th century BC. Herakles standing in fighting attitude to right, wearing Nemean lion skin, seizing with his left hand one of the heads of the Lernean Hydra, and with his right hand preparing to strike with; bow and bowcase in left field / Bull standing to left. Svoronos 66, pl. XXIV, 23 (these dies); Le Rider pl. XXIII, 11 (same dies); BMFA Suppl. 125 (same dies). 11.41g, 27mm, 4h. Near Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, only two examples recorded by Le Rider. From the Eckenheimer Collection. The obverse of this coin depicts the second of Herakles’ Twelve Labours set by Eurystheos, the agent of Hera. He was tasked with slaying the ancient serpent-like monster that resided in the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, which guarded an underwater entrance to the underworld. Upon cutting off each of the Hydra’s heads however, Herakles found that two more would grow back in its place, an expression of the hopelessness of such a struggle for any but the hero. Realizing that he could not defeat the Hydra in this way, Herakles called on his nephew Iolaos for help. Iolaos then came upon the idea (possibly inspired by Athena) of using a firebrand to cauterize the stumps after each decapitation. When Hera saw that Herakles was gaining the upper hand she sent a large crab to distract the hero, but Herakles crushed it underfoot. He cut off the last and strongest of the Hydra’s heads with a golden sword given to him by Athena, and so completed his task. Hera, upset that Herakles had slain the beast she raised to kill him, placed it in the vault of the heavens as the constellation Hydra, and she turned the crab into the constellation Cancer. The encounter with the Lernean Hydra is not only well attested in epic, but is also the subject of some of the earliest securely identifiable Herakles scenes in Greek art. On two Boiotian fibulae of c. 750-700 BC (BM 3025, Philadelphia 75-35-1), the hydra is attacked by Herakles, at whose feet is the crab sent by Hera. This particular form of the scene would later be replicated on the coins of Phaistos (cf. Svoronos 60, pl. XXIV, 20), even including the crab. The present example is the earliest in the Herakles-Hydra series at Phaistos, and consequently is more archaistic in style. It has been extensively argued that the later designs of Phaistos copy a now lost masterpiece of sculpture or painting, perhaps even a statue group by the great sculptor Lysippos (see Lehmann, ‘Statues on Coins’, New York 1946; see also Lacroix, ‘Les Reproductions de Statues sur les Monnaies Grecques’, Liege 1949; see also Lattimore, ‘Lysippian Sculpture on Greek Coins’, California Studies in Classical Antiquity Vol. 5 1972). The present type however most likely draws its inspiration from a locally significant vase or wall painting, given that the composition is pictorial in nature, showing Herakles’ bow and quiver behind him in the field. Though the particular source of inspiration for this type is not known, clear parallels can be seen in surviving Greek art of the late Archaic and early Classical periods, notably on an Attic black figure Lekythos now in the Louvre (CA598) which depicts Herakles and the Hydra in a similar combat pose.
Troas, Alexandreia Troas AR Tetradrachm. Year 148 = 153 BC. Laureate head of Apollo left / Apollo Smintheos (the Mouse God), draped, walking to right holding bow and arrow, quiver over shoulder; ??????N?? and date PMH to right, monogram and ??????? to left, ??????? in exergue, ?Y?O?ENOY below. BMC -; SNG Copenhagen -; SNG von Aulock -; SNG München -; SNG Tübingen -; Bellinger -; Fritze -; Leschhorn -. 16.98g, 35mm, 6h. Very Fine. Apparently Unique.
Troas, Alexandreia Troas AR Tetradrachm. Year 174 = 128/7 BC. Anaxikratos, magistrate. Laureate head of Apollo left, with flying wreath ties and two spiral locks falling over back of neck / Apollo Smintheos (the Mouse God), laureate and draped, standing to right holding bow and unstrung arrow in left hand, patera in right, quiver over shoulder; ??????N?? and date PO? to right, monogram and ??????? to left, ??????????? in exergue, ANA?IKPATO? below. BMC -; Bellinger -; Leschorn Lexicon I & II -; for general type cf. Bellinger A133-7. 16.88g, 31mm, 12h. Good Extremely Fine. A historically and artistically important coin. Apparently unique and unpublished, and very possibly the finest known example of the series, which is otherwise only found in heavily circulated condition. Assuming that the era in use began in 301 as Bellinger suggests (p. 94, note 18), the date of this issue, year 174, probably equates to c.128/7 BC. For an up to date commentary on the dating of this coinage cf. A. Meadows, ‘The earliest coinage of Alexandria Troas’ in NC 2004, pp. 47-70, especially p. 70. Recent excavations have revealed that the Hellenistic incarnation of the temple of Apollo Smintheos was constructed circa 150-125 BC, therefore around the supposed time of the striking of this coin. For a very informative discussion on the statue of Apollo Smintheos at the shrine of Hamaxitos near Alexandria Troas attributed to Skopas, who is said to have a mouse at the foot of the god, cf. L. Lacroix, Les reproduction de statues sur les monnaies grecques, pp. 76-86, especially pp. 83-6. In the opening of Homer’s Iliad the shrine of Apollo Smintheos (Smitheos on the coin) is mentioned as the temple where the daughter of the Trojan priest Chryses, (possibly named after the town next to the temple which was sometimes called Chryse), who was called as Chryseis, 'the girl from Chryse', was taken captive by Agamemnon. This provoked Chryses to appeal to the god in the vocative as ??????? (Smintheu, 'O, Sminthian') when imploring him to send a plague against the Greeks, presumably by mice. The epithet Smintheos was attributed by the later Greeks to a Pelasgian or Mysian origin and was taken to mean 'destroyer of mice'. The consonantal string -nth- (e.g. Corinth) is considered by modern philologists to be non-Greek and possibly Luwian in origin. The passage of Homer gives no indication as to its meaning, and so myths about Apollo Smintheos primarily arose from attempts to aetiologise the epithet.
Mysia, Pergamon AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm. Circa 135-128 BC. Cista mystica with serpent within ivy wreath / Two serpents entwined around bow and quiver; MH above, civic monogram to left, serpent-entwined club with lion’s skin to right. Kleiner-Noe, Series 31b, 102-5. 12.61g, 24mm, 12h. Very Fine.
Kingdom of Pergamon, Eumenes I AR Tetradrachm. Circa 263-241 BC. Laureate head of Philetairos right / Athena seated left, left elbow resting on shield, crowning ?I?ETAI?OY with wreath held in her extended right hand, spear diagonally in background, ivy leaf in outer left field, A in inner left field, bow in right field. SNG France 1612. 16.95g, 31mm, 12h. Near Extremely Fine, struck in high relief.
Lydia, Apollonis AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm. In the name of the Pergamene pretender Eumenes III Aristonikos. Year 3 = 132/1 BC. Cista mystica with serpent in ivy wreath / ??-??, two serpents entwined around bow and quiver; to left and right heads Zeus and Dionysos; to left and right of serpent’s coil, BA and EY; on lower part of bow case, ?. Klein-Noe p. 103, Series 2, 2 a-h; SNG von Aulock 2897. 12.37g, 27mm, 12h. Very Fine. Rare.
Lydia, Sardes-Synnada AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm. Circa 166-160 BC. Cista mystica with serpent within ivy wreath / Two serpents entwined around bow and quiver; civic monogram to left, thyrsos to right. Kleiner-Noe, Series 1, 1-4; SNG Berry 1142; SNG von Aulock 3121. 12.64g, 28mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. Rare.
Cilicia, Tarsos AR Stater. Tarkumuwa (Datames), Satrap of Cilicia and Cappadocia. Circa 375 BC. Baaltars seated right, torso facing, cradling eagle-tipped sceptre in right arm, holding grain ear and grape bunch in extended left hand; B’LTRZ in Aramaic to left, thymiaterion to right; below throne, forepart of sphinx right; all within crenelated wall / Satrap, wearing Persian dress, seated right, inspecting arrow held in both hands; TRDMW in Aramaic to left, winged solar disk to upper right, bow to lower right. Casabonne Type 2; Moysey Issue 6, 17a corr. (same dies; sphinx not dog); SNG France –; SNG Levante –; SNG von Aulock –; Pozzi 2849. 10.51g, 24mm, 11h. Near Extremely Fine. Very Rare, and better than the published examples.
Cyprus, Kition AR Stater. Baalmelek II, circa 425-400 BC. Herakles in fighting stance to right, wearing lion skin upon his back and tied around neck, holding club overhead in right hand and bow extended before him in left hand; monogram or ankh to right / Lion attacking stag crouching right; L B'LMLK (in Aramaic) above; all inside dotted border within incuse square. Tziambazis 19; Babelon, Perses 678; BMC 35; Sunrise 110 (this coin). 10.75g, 25mm, 3h. Extremely Fine. Rare. Exceptional state of preservation - apparently the finest known example of the type, which is otherwise nearly uniformly badly struck and preserved. Ex Gorny & Mosch 185, 8 March 2010, lot 176. Various attempts have been made to explain the meaning of the lion attack motif, often centred on possible astrological or cosmological significances, or associations with particular deities. One interpretation that has gained traction in recent years is that the motif is apotropaic in nature, serving to ward off evil in a similar function to the gorgoneion, which like the lion attack motif is very prevalent in ancient Greek coinage, though there is little evidence to support such a notion. G. E. Markoe ('The Lion Attack in Archaic Greek Art', Classical Antiquity Vol. 8, 1, 1989) convincingly suggests that a more likely explanation may be found in the examination of archaic Greek epic poetry, particularly in Homeric literature, wherein a lion attacking cattle or sheep is repeatedly employed as a simile for the aggression and valour of combatant heroes. In notable passages, Agamemnon's victorious advance against the Trojans in the Iliad (11.113ff and 129) and Hektor's successful pursuit of the Achaeans (15.630ff) are both likened to a lion triumphing over its hapless prey. In both of these cases the allusion is completed by the defeated being compared to fleeing prey animals. In all, there are twenty five examples present in the Iliad of heroic warriors being compared to leonine aggressors, with the victims variously compared to boars, sheep, goats, bulls or deer. The repetition of this literary device is clearly demonstrative of how deeply rooted the imagery was in the Greek (and perhaps more generally human) consciousness. Of further and great significance is the involvement of the gods as the primary instigators of heroic leonine aggression in almost every case, and as it is made clear that the lion itself is an animal that is divinely directed to its prey (11.480, by a daimon), so then is the lion attack a metaphor for divinely inspired heroic triumph. Greek art of the seventh century BC frequently pairs the motif with a scene of heroic triumph. On the New York Nessos amphora for example, the image of a lion attacking a deer is prominently displayed above the main scene, which shows Herakles defeating the centaur Nessos. The present coin therefore represents a continuation of the artistic response to a heroic literary tradition expressed in Homeric poetry.
Persia, Achaemenid Empire AV Daric. Time of Artaxerxes II or Artaxerxes III AV Daric. Circa 400-350 BC. Great King of Persia in kneeling-running pose right, wearing kidaris, holding bow in his left hand and spear with his right / Rectangular incuse punch. BMC 78ff; Carradice, The ‘Regal’ Coinage of the Persian Empire, CAAPE, Pl. XIII, 50-51. 8.33g, 16mm. Very Fine.
Kings of Parthia, Mithradates II AR Tetradrachm. Seleukia on the Tigris, circa 119-109 BC. Diademed and draped bust left, wearing long beard, earring, and torque; all within pelleted border / ???????? ??????? ??????? ?????????, archer (Arsakes I) seated right on omphalos, holding bow in outstretched right hand; palm to outer right; TV in exergue. Sellwood 24.4; Shore 67. 15.68g, 30mm, 12h. Extremely Fine.
Kings of Parthia, Mithradates II AR Drachm. Ekbatana, 109-96/5 BC. Diademed and draped bust left / ???????? ???????? ??????V ??????V ???????V?, Archer (Arsakes I) seated right, holding bow. Sellwood 27.2; Shore 86. 4.27g, 26mm, 12h. Good Extremely Fine. Struck on a very impressive large flan.
P. Cornelius P. f. Lentulus Spinther, as Imperator, AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm. Laodicea in Phrygia, circa 57-54 BC. Serpents emerging from cista mystica; the whole within wreath / P LENTVLVS P F IMP, Bow-case between two serpents, caduceus in right field, ??? in left; below, ?????????? ?????????? ??????? in three lines. Stumpf 76, pl. 2, 28; BMC18. 11.67g, 28mm, 12h. Very Fine. Very Rare. Ex Monnaies et Médailles Liste 178 avril 1958 N°21.
C. Poblicius Q. f. AR Serrate Denarius. Rome, 80 BC. Draped bust of Roma right, helmet decorated with corn ears and control mark above head, ROMA behind / Hercules strangling the Nemean lion, club at his feet, bow and arrow on left, C. POBLICI. Q. F on right. Poblicia 9; Crawford 80/1; Sydenham 768. 3.91g, 20mm, 3h. Good Extremely Fine. Lustrous.
A. Postumius A. f. Sp. n. Albinus AR Serrate Denarius. Rome, 81 BC. Draped bust of Diana right, with bow and quiver over shoulder, bucranium above / Togate figure standing left on rock, holding aspergillum over bull, between them, lighted altar, A POST A F S N ALBIN around. Postumia 7; Sydenham 745; Crawford 372/1. 4.06g, 19mm, 7h. Extremely Fine.
Bruttium, Kroton AR Stater. Circa 400-325 BC. Head of Hera Lakinia facing slightly right, wearing necklace and stephane decorated with palmettes; B to right / Young Herakles, nude, holding cup in extended right hand and club in left, reclining left on lion skin draped over rock; KPOT?NIATA? around, bow below. Attianese 138; HN Italy 2169; SNG ANS 375 (same dies); SNG Lloyd –; Gulbenkian 131 (same dies); Kraay & Hirmer 270 = de Luynes 728 (same dies). 7.74g, 23mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. Rare in this grade. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 10, 9 April 1997, lot 74. The depiction of Hera on the obverse is that of a local aspect of the deity, whose sanctuary the Heraion Lakinion was situated 10 kilometres away from Kroton at Lakinion, now Cape Colonna. The site takes its name from the sole surviving column of the temple built upon that spot in around 470 BC, which was largely intact until the sixteenth century when it was extensively quarried. Theokritos’ Korydon sings the praises of the ‘Lakinian shrine that faces the dawn’, and Livy 24.3.3-7 tells us that it was ‘a building more famous even than the city itself and held in reverence by all the peoples there around’ and that within were countless masterpieces and treasures including a column of solid gold dedicated to the goddess. By the time of Livy's writings however, the temple had long been plundered. This facing portrait of Hera can be considered to be directly inspired by Kimon's famous facing Arethusa tetradrachm that was widely admired and imitated throughout the ancient world; the difficulty of creating an attractive facing portrait apparently led to engravers considering the undertaking of such a die as a challenge and proof of their skill. Hera's headdress, a low crown known as a polos, was no longer worn in classical times but was common in Mycenaean art. Many of the terracotta figurines from late Helladic IIIA Mycenaean period circa 1400–1300 BC seem to wear poloi, and its use can thus be seen as a deliberate archaism for representing a Mother Goddess. Herakles appears on the reverse of this coin in his role as ‘founder’ of Kroton. Later Krotoniate tradition conveniently bypassed Myskellos (see lot 341) in favour of associating the city with a past more ancient even than the Trojan War; according to myth Herakles landed the nearby promontory with the oxen of Gerion and was hospitably received by one Kroton and his wife Laureta. Her father Lakinio however, was discovered trying to steal on ox from Herakles' sacred herd, resulting in Herakles fighting and killing him. In the confusion, it transpired that Herakles had also mortally wounded his host Kroton. Saddened, Herakles gave Kroton an honourable burial, and predicted the founding of a great city there that would bear his name. We see also on the reverse of this coin the fabled bow of Herakles, that Philoktetes was said to have taken with him to the land between Sybaris and Kroton, where he founded the non-Greek cities Petelia, Chrone, Krimisa and Makalla. A prophecy arose as in the Trojan War, that victory would be Kroton's if the bow and arrows of Herakles would be theirs. Thus, these sacred relics of Philoktetes were removed from his tomb and deposited in the Krotoniate sanctuary of Apollo Aleos. This coin is therefore rare among Greek coins in that it may be considered to have a threefold significance - referring directly to the sanctuary of Hera, to Herakles as ‘founder’ of the city, and to the sanctuary of Apollo.
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