I have commented before on the level of looting in ancient Lydia. I drew attention to the study by Christopher H. Roosevelt and Christina Luke that demonstrated in their survey of Lydia, "Of the 397 tumuli personally inspected, 357 or 90 percent showed signs of looting".
My attention has been drawn to a 'Greek silver bowl' that is being offered at auction later this week (Christie's December 11, 2009, lot 87). Its collecting history is stated as, "Japanese Private Collection, 1970s."
A parallel is offered: "For a similar example from Sardis see no. 14 in von Bothmer, A Greek and Roman Treasury." This parallel piece, now in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art 26.164.13, was found at Sardis and given by The American Society for the Exploration of Sardis.
So what is the full collecting history of this second "Greek", or more likely Lydian, silver cup? And why describe it as "Greek" when the closest parallel comes from Sardis?
A Lydian silver kyathos (that also surfaced in the 1970s) was withdrawn from a 2007 auction at Bonham's in London.
Discussion of the archaeological ethics surrounding the collecting of antiquities and archaeological material.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A volute-krater with a "tremendous provenance"
A volute-krater attributed to the Syriskos painter by J.R. Guy (see BAPD 44988) is said by Michael Padgett to have been found with a psykter...
-
Source: Sotheby's A marble head of Alexander the Great has been seized in New York (reported in " Judge Orders Return of Ancien...
-
Detail of the Sophilos dinos © David Gill The Sophilos dinos in the British Museum has been reconstructed from approximately 50 fragments. I...
-
Source: Hellenic Consulate General in New York In September 2025 a number of antiquities were seized from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of ...
No comments:
Post a Comment