Silen Maskette Counterbalance with Ivy and Grape Diadem, 2nd C....
Silen Maskette Counterbalance with Ivy and Grape Diadem, 2nd C. BCEMagna Graecia, Greek, Hellenistic period, ca. 200–100 BCE. A bearded silen gazes out with unexpected composure, his face framed by a cascade of corkscrew ringlets and lobed side locks worked to knife-edge crispness. Solid-cast in a copper alloy and finished in the cold, the maskette wears a diadem of clustered grapes and ivy leaves beneath a meander-banded collar, from which rises a heavy integral suspension loop. The reverse is left open and irregular, the profile of a piece meant to hang and be read frontally. Such heads served as counterbalances on steelyard scales, weight and ornament at once, and the Dionysiac subject suited a device used in the wine trade. The surface carries a deep blue-green cuprous patina. Size: 5.75" W x 2.5" H (14.6 cm W x 6.4 cm H).
Silens, the elder and wiser cousins of the satyrs, attended Dionysos as tutors and companions. Where the young satyr is coarse and priapic, the silen of Hellenistic art is often ennobled: full-bearded, heavy-browed, and touched with the philosophical melancholy that Plato's Alcibiades famously compared to Socrates. The vine and ivy crown here declares the allegiance plainly.
Steelyard counterweights of this kind hung from the long arm of an unequal-arm balance, sliding along a graduated beam to weigh goods in bulk. Bust and mask forms proliferated across the Greek and Roman Mediterranean, and the choice of subject was rarely idle: a Dionysiac head on a merchant's scale flattered the commodity most often being measured.
The piece descends from a private American collection, having passed through Sotheby's New York in June 1999, and was earlier published by the Freiburg dealer Gunter Puhze in his "Kunst der Antike" catalogue 12.
Provenance: Private American collection, ex. Sotheby’s New York sale of June 5, 1999, lot 187. There listed as published in “Kunst der Antike” catalog 12 by the gallery Gunter Puhze, no.62.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73305Intact, Excellent condition
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Silen Maskette Counterbalance with Ivy and Grape Diadem, 2nd C. BCEMagna Graecia, Greek, Hellenistic period, ca. 200–100 BCE. A bearded silen gazes out with unexpected composure, his face framed by a cascade of corkscrew ringlets and lobed side locks worked to knife-edge crispness. Solid-cast in a copper alloy and finished in the cold, the maskette wears a diadem of clustered grapes and ivy leaves beneath a meander-banded collar, from which rises a heavy integral suspension loop. The reverse is left open and irregular, the profile of a piece meant to hang and be read frontally. Such heads served as counterbalances on steelyard scales, weight and ornament at once, and the Dionysiac subject suited a device used in the wine trade. The surface carries a deep blue-green cuprous patina. Size: 5.75" W x 2.5" H (14.6 cm W x 6.4 cm H).
Silens, the elder and wiser cousins of the satyrs, attended Dionysos as tutors and companions. Where the young satyr is coarse and priapic, the silen of Hellenistic art is often ennobled: full-bearded, heavy-browed, and touched with the philosophical melancholy that Plato's Alcibiades famously compared to Socrates. The vine and ivy crown here declares the allegiance plainly.
Steelyard counterweights of this kind hung from the long arm of an unequal-arm balance, sliding along a graduated beam to weigh goods in bulk. Bust and mask forms proliferated across the Greek and Roman Mediterranean, and the choice of subject was rarely idle: a Dionysiac head on a merchant's scale flattered the commodity most often being measured.
The piece descends from a private American collection, having passed through Sotheby's New York in June 1999, and was earlier published by the Freiburg dealer Gunter Puhze in his "Kunst der Antike" catalogue 12.
Provenance: Private American collection, ex. Sotheby’s New York sale of June 5, 1999, lot 187. There listed as published in “Kunst der Antike” catalog 12 by the gallery Gunter Puhze, no.62.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73305Intact, Excellent condition
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Reserve
Time, Location
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