Lot 38 | A very fine Greek late classical rectangular sard intaglio - plaque. Athena.

Bertolami Fine Art - Riversdell Close 27, KT16 9JW Chertsey

A very fine Greek late classical rectangular sard intaglio - plaque. Athena.

A very fine Greek late classical rectangular sard intaglio - plaque. Athena.

Late 4th century B.C.

18,5 x 39 x 3 mm

Athena, walking on tiptoe to the left side, holding a spear in the left hand and a round-shield (with Medusa mask in relief) in the right arm. She wears a crested Attic helmet and a long belted chiton, with aegis. Small groundline. The light dancing pose is far removed from the early stately representations of Athena. The elegant transparency of the folds is in line with the late fifth and early fourth century work. An interesting parallel for the iconography and the pose, is a sard intaglio (British Museum, 65.7-12.141, 3rd century B.C., Walters Cat. no. 1144); for the shape of the plaque, a quadrangular chalcedony with back faceted, Maenad (found in the theatre of Dionysos, Athens, now in the Staatliche Museum of Berlin).This remarkable rectangular sard is a rare and precious testimony of Greek glyptic production of the late classical period. The beauty of the engraving, the style perfection and the great rarity of the typology (a large, rectangular plaque, extremely thin) make it more difficult to find close comparisons to this piece, in some aspects apparently unique in its kind.
An interesting detail of this piece is the presence of ancient fixing holes present on the stone, directly on the figure. These are four fixing points each consisting of two circular holes. Only in one case the two holes remain intact and circular (on the right, on the hand of the figure). In the other three cases, however, the small portion that separated the two holes, too thin and fragile, is damaged; however their division is still visible. The destination of this plaque is not entirely certain, but these holes suggest that probably, in a con- text to be defined, it was sewn directly to a precious dress-garment or a simulacrum. The stone is extremely thin, with a faceted back. On the surface, light traces of burning. Slight wear marks. Intact.

Parallels: G.M.A. Richter, The engraved gems of the greeks, etruscans and romans - part one. A History of Greek Art in miniature, Phaidon 1968, p. 84 n. 253-255, p. 143 n. 549.

U.K. private collection, London. Property of a London gentleman; previously from the collection of R.T. formerly acquired on the Antique Hypermarket, M. Cohen (Antiques) in the 70's.