Eastern Greek Gold Necklace Element with Agate Drops. Circa 3rd century B.C. Crescentic frontal panel from a necklace or collar; sheet gold band with slight carination, lightly incised leaf and berry detailing; applied filigree band to each end with double-loop attachment points; three applied foil rosettes; eleven banded agate dangles to the lower edge with sheet gold suspension; a marriage of ancient parts. Cf. Williams, D. and Ogden, J., Greek Gold, Jewelry of the Classical World, MMA, 1994, item 67, for similar rosettes with filigree; Despini, A., Ancient Gold Jewellery, Athens, 1996, no.12, p.57, for a diadem with applied rosettes of c.700 B.C.; cf. also Ogden, J., Gold Jewellery in Ptolemaic, Roman and Byzantine Egypt, Durham, 1990, II Vol., fig.395, for a gold crescentic band ornamented with applied rosettes. 33.84 grams, 15.2 cm (6 in.). (For this specific lot, 5% import VAT is applicable on the hammer price.)

Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12591-232174. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Rosettes were one of the most desired decorations on jewellery. Diadems with rosettes are attested from the archaic period onwards. One of the rosette types was the so-called flower-head from Madytos, which most closely resembled the common wild or dog rose. The rose was, of course, much prized in ancient times for its wonderful scent and as the favoured flower of Aphrodite, the goddess of love: the lyric poet Anakreon called it ‘the perfume of gods, the joy of men’.

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