CQ1EditorialA Moral DilemmaCahn’s Quarterly 3/2017Dear readers,After the summer break I would like to con-front you with a moral dilemma. Imagine that you see a masterpiece of ancient metal- work. It is adorned with sublimely crafted figures that are intertwined to form a com-plex composition that is perfectly adapted to the curved surface of the silver vessel; the details are expertly highlighted in gold. So much beauty is almost unbearable, tears come to your eyes. And what is even more amazing – the vessel does not stand alone, but is surrounded by many more of the same perfection. To study them would vastly fur-ther our understanding of the art and cul-ture of the period in which they were created – indeed it would revolutionize the field of ancient metalwork. In your mind’s eye you already see monographs, conferences and exhibitions dedicated to these artworks. BUT – why has this not happened already? Why aren’t art lovers in Paris, New York and Tokyo queuing up to see these magnificent works of art? Why have scholars remained silent on them? The pieces are authentic, there is not the slightest doubt about that. No, these mas-terpieces of human creativity are tainted by a far greater stigma. I hardly dare whisper it: They were not published before 1970.Sadly, I am not joking. The German Archae-ological Institute requires that its authors “do not publish any artefacts whose legal prov-enance has not been fully cleared, be they from private or public collections” if they have no pre-1970 documentation. Similarly, in its Code of Ethics the Archaeological In-stitute of America asks of its members that they do not authenticate, acquire, publish or exhibit antiquities “that are not documented as belonging to a public or private collection before December 30, 1970.” Their intention is honourable: The AIA wishes to stop activities which sanction the trade with undocumented antiquities, and with its Publi-cation Standards the GAI “aims at increasing awareness and drawing attention to the im-measurable loss of knowledge induced by the damage to an artefact’s find context.”Despite my understanding for these concerns, I am deeply shocked by this development to-wards academic self-censorship and by the increasing blindness of archae-ologists. Is it not paradoxical to draw “attention to” a “loss of knowledge” by engendering a different loss of knowledge? It is important to remem-ber that even if the find context of an artefact is damaged or unknown, the object itself can still provide us with extremely valuable information, for instance with regard to iconography, style, manufacturing techniques etc., quite apart from the great aesthetic pleasure that it can afford the behold-er. If “official archaeology” prohibits itself, for moral reasons, from taking note of such objects, then in my opin-ion it is no longer a science but an ideology. For how can a discipline be called a science if it deliberately ig-nores facts and therefore intentional-ly proposes incorrect hypotheses and wilfully draws faulty conclusions? The reality of the object exists, in spite of all circumstances, and it is unscientif-ic to the very core to ignore it! Yet for years important material has not been investigated. The amount of neglected material is by now enormous and the science of archaeology is in the process of losing its basis.Is it not an attack on freedom of speech, to prohibit people from talking about something that exists? Very bad memories are brought to mind by the fact that we are no longer permitted to speak about certain objects, and that they may not be exhibited or even seen. And one wonders how long it will be until we hear demands that these objects be destroyed, the same way that tiger skins and ivory tusks are burned to deter the illegal trade in then. Tragically, this self-censorship which dis-torts our knowledge of our past and passes on faulty and incomplete information to fu-ture generations is USELESS, as the GAI it-self admits! In its Publication Standards the GAI writes: “Editors of the publishing bodies of the German Archaeological Institute are aware that these constraints will neither curb the global problem of illegal excavations and A HEAD OF VENUS (CAPITOLINE TYPE). H. 28 cm. Marble. Ro-man, 1st half of 1st-1st half of 2nd cent. A.D. The restoration to the nose dates from the 19th century or earlier. The object must there-fore have a long collecting history even though it is not documented anywhere in writing. Price on requestthe associated irreversible destruction of ar-chaeological contexts, nor diminish the illicit trafficking of artefacts.” I condemn the illicit trade in antiquities, but I also condemn the deliberate renunciation of knowledge and the condoning of the result-ing loss of information. I believe that we are obliged to ensure the preservation ancient artefacts and to make them accessible to the public even if they have a dubious prove-nance.While these statements may seem provoca-tive, my intent is to open a constructive de-bate. I would be interested in hearing your opinion on this issue. English EditionCQ2Cahn’s Quarterly 3/2017With over 2,000 plaster casts of ancient sculp-tures, the Skulpturhalle numbers amongst those Basel museums with an international standing. Few people, however, are truly aware of the importance of this collection. This is probably related to the fact that during most of the 20th century plaster casts were held in low esteem; they were thought to be useful from a didactic point of view but worthless with regard to their material. In the 19th cen-tury, however, such copies were viewed in a completely different manner. At that time, almost every European university town could boast a large collection of plaster casts. These “gipsoteche” were, so to speak, the culmina-tion of the enthusiasm for casts after ancient artworks that had been sparked off by the Renaissance. As of the 15th century, plaster casts played an increasingly important role in the imitation, research and dissemination of ancient sculptures. At first, various Italian artists assembled small collections of plaster casts that served as models and were used for practice purposes in their studios. From the 17th century onwards, the leading art acade-mies began to use plaster casts as models for their students. And from the late 18th centu-ry, casts were also used in the nascent science of archaeology and as a means of furthering the education of the bourgeoisie. On the basis of this historical development, collections of plaster casts fulfilled a three-did. The practical advantages of a collection of casts are today more convincing than such aesthetic arguments: The best and most im-portant sculptures from around the globe can be assembled in a well-stocked collection of casts. Gaps can be filled or, conversely, ex-haustive series of comparable pieces built up. Even better, fragments of an artwork that are scattered in different locations can be reas-sembled, making is possible to reconstruct what the original must have looked like. Thus, it was only logical that the leading 19th century scholars specialised in the study of sculpture, such as Adolf Michaelis in Stras-bourg, Gerhard Treu in Dresden or Wilhelm Klein in Prague, supported their research findings with three-dimensional plaster re-constructions displayed in the university cast collections that they supervised. In Dresden, for instance, Treu first tried out his recon-structions of the two pediment groups of the Zeus Temple in Olympia with the aid of casts, and only then implemented them us-ing the original fragments in the Museum of Olympia. Furthermore, Treu used casts to test his research into the polychromy of ancient sculptures by letting selected casts be painted.It is as telling as it is deplorable that, for much of the 20th century, these fruitful projects were not continued. The aesthetic dogma of the fragmentary white marble and the deval-uation of copies were all too powerful, almost totally ousting reconstructions and research into ancient polychromy from the academic agenda. This makes it all the more remark-able that Ernst Berger, the first director of the Basel Antikenmuseum, which was founded in 1961, used the Skulpturhalle for scientific re-constructions and had it integrated in the An-tikenmuseum. In this manner he succeeded, in 1964, in reconstructing the composition of the Hellenistic statue group of Achilles and Penthesilea (fig. 3). Only a few isolated frag-ments from rare Roman copies have survived as testimony to this bronze sculpture which once graced Pergamon. By making casts of the most informative fragments on site in the museums preserving them, Berger succeeded in collecting sufficient material to reassemble the group in plaster with the aid of a sculp-tor. Berger later topped this achievement with the reconstruction of numerous Polykleitian “The Plaster Age” – On the Historical Significance of the Basel SkulpturhalleBy Tomas LochmanFrom the Museum WorldFig. 1: The Parthenon Exhibition in the Skulpturhalle after the renovation of the building in 2006.fold role in the 19th century. Artists used them for practice purposes, they served to further scholarly research, and they were a source of aesthetic pleasure for the educat-ed middle classes. It was exactly these three core tasks that were to be addressed in Basel, when, on the occasion of its opening in the year 1849, the Museum on the Augustiner-gasse was provided with a room dedicated to plaster casts (fig. 2; this seminal collection was later to become the Skulpturhalle). In-deed, a not inconsiderable number of persons at the time preferred plaster casts to the mar-ble originals, as the snow-white casts showed the plastic qualities of the sculptures to great-er advantage than the weathered originals Fig. 2: The predecessor of the Skulpturhalle: Basel’s first collection of plaster casts in the “Sculpture Room” of the Museum on the Augustinergasse, between 1849 and 1886.CQ3Cahn’s Quarterly 3/2017Fig. 3: Achilles and Penthesilea. Ernst Berger’s recon- struction, made in 1964, unites plaster casts of fragments from Roman marble copies of the Hellenistic bronze sculp-ture: Head of Achilles in the Prado, Head of Penthesilea in the Antikenmuseum Basel, Torso of Achilles in the Pa-lazzo dei Conservatori, Torso of Penthesilea in the Museo Nazionale Romano. Skulpturhalle Basel, Inv. SH 1135A.statue types and, even more importantly, by uniting almost all the sculptures from the Parthenon of Athens, the originals of which are dispersed amongst various museum col-lections. All these projects make the Skulpturhalle a museum of plaster casts that is unique worldwide. It is important to remind our-selves of this fact, especially in this year which has seen the introduction of massive cost-cutting measures, forcing the Skulptur- halle to significantly reduce its opening hours and activities. Thomas Lochman studied Classical Archaeology in Basel and earned his doctorate with a thesis on Roman art in Phrygia. He has been director of the Skulpturhalle since 1993 and curator in the Antikenmuseum since 2013. From 2000-2016 he was president of the In-ternational Association for the Conser-vation and the Promotion of Plaster Cast Collections. Lochman’s research focuses on ancient sculpture (Greece, Rome and the Eastern Provinces), the reception of Antiquity in modern times and the his-tory of plaster cast collections.My ChoicePaniskas are very rarely represented. The type probably emerged shortly after 400 B.C., possibly around the time when the artist Zeuxis created the Taurines. Our charming Panis-ka was probably sculpted during the reign of Emperor Augustus. She turns her head back slightly and smiles at the beholder with parted lips. Her features are girlish, but the face is still imbued with an ide-alized femininity. Small bumps on her forehead indicate the horns and her pursed lips reveal pointed teeth; thus, all elements that character- ize a Paniska are present. Her thick, curly hair is drawn to the back of her head, where it was held together in a now lost chignon.The fine crystalline marble is of high quality and has some slight discolourations. Probably the head belonged to a full-length sculpture of a Paniska which once adorned a garden in the City of Rome, evoking a rural idyll within the orderly fra-mework of the atrium. City gardens were often decorated with motifs from nature such as swans, rabbits, nymphs, satyrs and the companions of Pan, whose purpose was to create the impression of a different, happy state of being.By Jean-David CahnA Head of a PaniskaImprint PublisherJean-David Cahn Malzgasse 23 CH-4052 Basel +41 61 271 67 55 mail@cahn.ch www.cahn.chEditorsJean-David Cahn Yvonne YiuAuthorsJean-David CahnMartin FlasharUlrike HaaseTomas LochmannGerburg LudwigYvonne YiuTranslationsBronwen SaundersYvonne Yiu PhotosNiklaus BürginUlrike HaaseDesign and LayoutMichael JoosYvonne YiuPrinterDruckerei Deiner www.druckerei-deiner.deI acquired the sculpture in France. It comes from the estate of the well-known sculp-tor Paul Dubois (1829-1905). He did well to keep this sculpture either in his house or his workshop, for on longer contemplation the exceptionally sensitive and elegant model-ling of the surface becomes manifest. The tip of the nose, which was restored in plaster, and the somewhat cool, classicist pedestal date from the 19th century. We did not remo-ve them, since, together with the head, they form a convincing whole. Furthermore, these additions are representative of the period in which the piece was collected.Paniskas are the companions of Pan and dif-ficult to define. Their behaviour is erotically charged – albeit of a purely heterosexual na-ture – and they help the gods at their sym-posia. They are probably best understood as female counterparts of Pan's robust sexuality. In any case, something very attractive is sug-gested here in a subtle manner. I can well imagine that the sculptor Dubois was affor-ded much pleasure by this piece. A Head of a Paniska H. 16.5 cm. Marble. Roman, late 1st cent. B.C.-early 1st cent. A.D. CHF 34,000CQ4Cahn’s Quarterly 3/2017A Successful ExhibitionThe exhibition Icons and Tools shown at Gal-lery Cahn during Art Basel surprised its vis-itors with an unusual selection of artworks. At the gallery entrance, Objets Sommaires by Guillaume Leblon lay arranged on the ground forming a visual axis with Winterchamäleon (Mantel) by Katinka Bock suspended on the wall opposite. These sculptures, along with numerous other contemporary works of art, engaged in a fascinating dialogue with the ancient artefacts belonging to the Gallery Cahn. This exciting exhibition in co-opera-tion with Jocelyn Wolff of Paris succeeded in attracting an open-minded audience with a refreshingly novel way of seeing. The open-ing with culinary treats from Antiquity was exceptionally well attended and on the fol-lowing days the gallery established itself as a popular stop on the way to or from Art Basel. GalleryCQ5Cahn’s Quarterly 3/2017Roaming the ruins of ancient sanctuaries such as Delphi, Olympia, or the Amphiareion of Oropos, visitors will notice a variety of pointers to the offerings (anathema or vo-tive) customarily made there. There are small buildings, like the Athenian Treasury and Siphnian Treasury at Delphi, reliefs showing cultic scenes, and perhaps the base of a statue bearing a dedicatory inscription. Scenes of cultic practices on Greek vases and the ceremonial offerings or sacrifices depict-ed in Roman wall paintings and on official or sacred reliefs round off the picture. Thus we can visualize very well how the cult was practised and the gods venerated. But how do all the many small votive offerings fit into this picture? Or to put it another way: Have you not sometimes wondered about the exact meaning of the terms “votive offering” and “ex voto” used in the descriptions of some small works of art on offer at Cahn Gallery or in its auction catalogues? While both can be applied to dedications of all kinds, in practice they are used primarily in connection with small artefacts intended as gifts to the gods, to whom they were made over with irrevoca-ble effect. The votaries who made such dedi-cations did so either in anticipation of some future benefit, conveying their dearest wishes and prayers in a mute, material form, or in thanksgiving for succour already given or in fulfilment of a solemn vow, in which case the gift was indeed made “ex voto” in the truest sense of the term.of communication between ordinary mor-tals and the deity. The motivation for such a prayer or token of thanks was deeply per-sonal in most cases and often had to do with the exigencies of everyday life: the hope for good health or wish to be healed, the long-ing for fertility, personal success, the giver's own personal prosperity, or that of his or her family members.This is also the case with the small bronze tablet on offer at Gallery Cahn which bears a dedicatory inscription to Artemis Lochia, the goddess of childbearing (fig. 1). The inscrip-tion ardently requests a swift delivery with as little pain as possible. The wish is a personal one and Artemis is named as the addressee. Whether the first word identifies the giver is hard to say.The occasional dedication of a used tool, household utensil, or toy was a way of mak-ing over to the gods something that was of symbolic or at least sentimental value to the giver. Such dedications, like the appeal to Artemis Lochia, were highly individualized, intimate cultic acts.This is certainly not true of most of the vo-tives that have survived, whose iconography tends to reference general cultic prac-tices, as is evident, for instance, from the many minia-ture versions of the statues of the dei-ty inside the tem-ple that have been found. These were mass produced in external workshops and might be made of bronze, although terracotta was more common. The ad-vances made in casting and the coroplaths’ use of moulds made this form of production possible. Standard-ization, however, in-evitably entailed the loss of the votive’s individual character. In Silent Dialogue with the GodsAn Excursion into the World of Ancient Votive OfferingsBy Gerburg LudwigDiscovered for YouFig. 1: A SMALL VOTIVE PLAQUE WITH AN INSCRIPTION TO ARTEMIS LOCHIA. H. 10.5 cm. Bronze, Greek, 5th-2nd cent. B.C. CHF 3,400Once set up on special benches and altars inside the sanctuary, suspended on walls, or even from trees, these little votive offerings were a constant pres-ence that must automatically have caught the public eye. They were perceived rather like a form of wordless communi-cation between gods, givers, and other worshippers. The vo-tive offerings themselves sym-bolized the provision of divine assistance. Their advertisement of the cult and the positive light in which they cast the giver – depending on their material value – were practical side ef-fects of their primary purpose.Such gifts for the gods var-ied considerably: The citizens of a city-state might collectively give a treasury that would house small votive offerings, weapons, ar-mour (most of it war trophies), coins, hacksil-ver, or molten metals; but depending on the giver’s social status and economic circum-stances, they might take many other forms, too, ranging from large statues and reliefs bearing scenes of cultic practices or sacrifices to votives shaped like body parts or organs offered to a healing cult, small statuettes of humans and animals made of bronze or clay, and even ordinary everyday utensils.Archaeologists often come across large num-bers of the same figures either within the temple precinct, or, for reasons of space, in votive repositories located somewhere near-by, where they were ritually “disposed of”, as well as in settlements or necropolises. Deter-mining the function of each of these pieces is not easy, but nor is it strictly speaking neces-sary. Worshippers may conceivably have pre-sented a piece of their everyday lives to the gods from time to time, just as placing such objects in the graves of the deceased was likewise a widespread practice. In order to be able to interpret an artefact as a votive offer-ing, it should be known to have been found within a sanctuary or votive repository, and, ideally, have a clearly legible dedicatory in-scription.Although not of any great value, such small votives served as a silent but direct means Fig. 2: A VOTIVE PINAX WITH A CULTIC SCE-NE. H. 19.5 cm. Clay. Western Greek, Lokroi, 1st half of 5th cent. B.C. CHF 1,800CQ6Cahn’s Quarterly 3/2017Ancient Home DecorAN APPLIQUE IN THE FORM OF BACCHUS’ OR A MAENAD’S HEAD. H. 10.2 cm. Bronze. Crowned with an opulent wreath of ivy leaves and corymbs, this youthful head with its wild, tousled hair can only belong to the god of wine, Bacchus, or to a member of his entourage, either a maenad or a satyr. The idealised face with its elongated oval shape and tapering chin, slightly curved forehead, flat eyebrows which transition elegantly into the long, slender nose, small mouth with full, sensuously arched lips and pronounced, slightly hanging chin is firmly rooted in the stylistic idiom of the Hellenistic Period, which lingered on well into the Roman Imperial Period. Hollow case, details in careful cold work. The applique may have adorned a piece of furniture. Nose and the tips of a few leaves slightly worn. Formerly German priv. coll., acquired prior to 1961. Late Hellenistic to Roman Empire, 1st cent. B.C.-2nd cent. A.D. CHF 9,800A PART OF A TRIPOD SUPPORT IN THE FORM OF A GOAT LEG WITH SWAN’S HEAD. H. 8.7 cm. Bronze. Nat-uralistically shaped leg of a goat, from whose upper end the head of a swan with elegantly curved neck emerges. The texture of the feathers and the beak is rendered by fine incisions. At the transition between the two figural elements the beginnings of a slightly curved horizontal bar that continues to the rear. A small support is attached to the highest point of the swan’s head. This small frag-ment undoubtedly comes from an ornamental object. Such objects impress us through their wealth of ideas and shapes and were a component of the lavish decoration of Roman villas. Our object may have come from a tripod stand. In Pompeii larger examples with similar decoration that served as table supports were found. Formerly priv. coll. S. D., USA (East Coast), acquired before 1997. Roman, 1st-3rd cent. A.D. CHF 1,500Such objects could be purchased in the im-mediate vicinity of the sanctuary. The small rooms to the left and right of the Sacred Way linking Pergamon to the Asklepieion situated on its outskirts, for example, were originally shops for the sale of votive offerings. Both the relief tablet (pinax) showing a cultic scene from Lokroi (fig. 2) and the two female protomes (figs. 3–4) on offer at Gallery Cahn belong to this category of standardized votive offering. The pinax belongs to a votive series from the sanctuary of Persephone in Lokroi Epizephyrioi in Lower Italy. Originally paint-ed and furnished with holes, such pinakes were intended to be hung up at the sanctu-ary. With its festively clad young worshipper with a taenia in her hand, this one affords us a glimpse of the cultic acts performed there. The two protomes were mould-made, bear-ing a relief on the front face. The woman in the Classical protome, presumably the repre-sentation of a worshipper, wears a stephane with veil. The head of the Archaic protome is crowned with a polos that characterizes the subject as a goddess. Many of the protomes also had holes on the upper edge allowing them to be suspended.In all three cases, young women or their family members would have presented these votive offerings – along with a petition for the fertility, renewal, and preservation of na-ture – to Persephone, Aphrodite, Hera, or the Mother Goddess Demeter. Fig. 3: A FEMALE PROTOME. H. 25.5 cm. Clay. Western Greek, Classical Period, 4th cent. B.C. CHF 12,000Fig. 4: A GODDESS. H. 17 cm. Clay. Western Greek, Archaic Period, 2nd half of 6th cent. B.C. CHF 2,400As this brief excursion shows, ancient votive offerings are so plentiful and multifarious that they defy any easy classification. We shall turn our attention to another group of these objects in the next edition of Cahn's Quarterly.New Artworks Monthlyon www.cahn.chCQ7Cahn’s Quarterly 3/2017A THYMIATERION. H. 45 cm. Bronze. The cat climbing up the thin shaft is stalking the promisingly close bird just ahead of it. At the top of the piece is a flat dish with square frame with two birds perched on the corners. Two more, now lost, birds once sat opposite them, as the rivet holes indicate. The shaft is supported by a tripod in the form of humanoid legs with palmettes hanging in the spandrels between them. Shaft with fine spiral incising. Dish reattached. Formerly Coll. Alfred Martin Escher, Zürich, 1950s. Etruscan, 4th cent. B.C. CHF 7,800A FOOT OF A CANDELABRUM. H. 9.2 cm. Bronze. This magnificent candelabrum stands on three lion's paws. Each interstice between the legs is adorned by a broad, heart-shaped leaf with finely engraved veins. The ends of the leaves reach all the way up to the hollow shaft, of which the base is preserved. The shaft would originally have been fairly long and have ended in an ornamental support for the oil lamp. Tips of leaves slightly worn. Two ends of the leaves partially preserved. Examples of this type have been found in Pompeii. Comes with three candelabrum fragments (two shaft fragments and one foot support), most probably from the same find context. With Sasson Gallery, Jerusalem, prior to 2000. Roman, 1st cent. A.D. CHF 2,800A TREFOIL-MOUTHED OINOCHOE WITH HANDLE APPLIQUES. H. 15.2 cm. Bronze. Ovoid vessel with short neck and flared trefoil mouth. Soldered onto the reverse is a separately made arched handle with two fine ribs and figural termini: an applique with the youthful face of a woman on the mouth and an applique with a head of Si-lenus on the body. Wall, rim and base repaired. Formerly US art market, 2013. Label on base: “FOR 9”. Etruscan, 5th cent. B.C. CHF 5,800A THRONE ATTACHMENT. L. 24.3 cm. Bronze. Octag-onal, hollow handle whose curved end is shaped as a duck’s head. The eyes are rendered by a deep drill hole for the pupil framed by lids adorned by a line frieze. Del-icately engraved lines along the lower edge of the beak. As the object would be unusually large for a ladle, this attractive fragment is more likely to be a furniture fit-ting, and may have adorned the back of a throne. Repre-sentations of such thrones can be found on black-figure vases. Formerly with a Bavarian art dealer, acquired ca. 2007 on the German art market. Etruscan or Western Greek, 5th cent. B.C. CHF 14,000A COLUMN WITH FLORAL RELIEF DECORATION. H. 39.2 cm. Marble. A slim column lavishly decorat-ed with (acanthus?) leaves overlapping like scales and with flowers arranged between them at regular intervals. Upper edge of the column separately modelled like an ovolos. Underside with anathyrosis. Deep drill hole in the middle on both sides. The column is modelled in the round for viewing from all sides; it therefore seems probable that it served as a decorative support, possibly for a double herm, examples of which are known to us from Pompeii. The relief work matches the decorative taste and style of many Early Imperial works of the 1st cent. A.D. Reassembled from four fragments. Encrusta-tion in places. Formerly Coll. Max Hagemann, prior to 1964. Roman, 1st cent. A.D. CHF 2,800CQ8Cahn’s Quarterly 3/2017A PILLAR FRAGMENT. H. 15 cm. Limestone. Fragment of a pillar sawn up in Antiquity with a relief on two sides. On one side a coiled tendril with panicle and cupped leaves, on the other a bell flower sprouting another coiled tendril. Worn, with chipped edges in places. Formerly Coll. Max Hagemann, prior to 1964. Western Greek, 2nd half of 4th cent. B.C. CHF 1,800A FISH PLATE. Dm. 18.6 cm. Clay, white and pink paint. Flat plate on low foot with broad overhanging lip adorned by a wave band on the exterior. Four bream swimming clockwise around the centre in red-figure technique. A rosette in the central concavity. Reassem-bled out of large fragments. Formerly priv. coll. L. S., LA County, USA, acquired prior to 2000. Western Greek, Apulian, ca. 340-320 B.C. CHF 8,800A SILVER OINOCHOE. H. 18.3 cm. Silver. Elegant-ly curved, piriform vessel with slightly flared neck and thickened lip. Low, conical foot with flat base. S-shaped handle with point of attachment articulated as a leaf. The neck and upper part of the body decorated with finely turned grooves. Surface slightly corroded in places. For-merly priv. coll. JVB, s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands; ac-quired ca. 1990. Roman, 2nd-3rd cent. A.D. CHF 7,800A FLASK. H. 21.5 cm. Glass. Greenish, shimmering, translucent flask with a pear-shaped body, slender neck and broad, folded lip. Freely blown. Iridescence. Former-ly estate of Philippe Stoll, Strasbourg. Roman, Eastern Mediterranean, 1st-2nd cent. A.D. CHF 2,900A SMALL FEMALE HEAD WITH WREATH. H. 4.8 cm. Terracotta. The head of this young woman is adorned by a wreath and turned slightly to the left. Her slender neck has several rings of Venus. Her hair is arranged in the “melon coiffure” that was so popular in Hellenistic times. The charming face is carefully modelled and the full lips smile at the beholder. Mould-made and hand-finished. Tips of the leaves of the wreath slightly worn. Hair at the nape of the neck partially preserved. From a statuette. Formerly priv. coll. Germany, since the 1980s. Greek or Western Greek, 3rd cent. B. C. CHF 1,200AN OIL LAMP. L. 12 cm. Bronze. The bronze lamp narrows at one end and stands on a ring foot. The handle takes the form of two entwined snakes. Both openings on the tondo are closed by hinged lids. The lid covering the hole for the dock takes the form of a seashell, while the other is round with a ring handle. Intact. Formerly Swiss art market, February 1983, acquired from the Coll. G. Ortiz. Roman, 1st cent. B.C.-2nd cent. A.D. CHF 18,000CQ9Cahn’s Quarterly 3/2017A BLACK-FIGURE SIANA CUP, ATTRIBUTED TO THE HEIDELBERG PAINTER. Dm. 25.6 cm. Clay. The tondo on the in-side of the cup surrounded by red and black tongues contains two nude, bearded men, wrestling each other. The highly skilled painter succeeds in reproducing their athletic, antithetically arranged bodies in three-quarter profile, which has the effect of lending the combat scene an extraordinary dynamism. On the outside of the vessel, the reserved zone between the handles with the carination running through it on one side shows two dancing men with onlookers. On the other side, the reserved picture field is filled with a procession of galloping men on horseback. Handles, upper face of the foot and lower part of the body (interrupted by four reserved stripes) black-glazed. Reassembled. Minor retouching. Siana Cups, which are named after their findspot, the necropolis of the ancient city of Siana on the island of Rhodes, are a group of Attic, black-figure cups which especially in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the 6th century B.C. were very popular. The offset mouth rim and concave foot are characteristic of this type of cup. The base as a rule is decorated with a pictorial tondo framed by a band of tongues or other ornaments. The Heidelberg Painter, alongside the C-Painter, counts as the most important exponent of this genre. Formerly Millard and Mary Sheets Collection, California, acquired in the 1960s, thence by descent. Millard Sheets (1907-1989) was a renowned Californian artist whose work appears on buildings and museums worldwide. Attic, ca. 560-550 B.C. CHF 28,000A BLACK-FIGURE OINOCHOE. H. 22.4 cm. Clay. Two hoplites crouching towards the left, covering themselves with small round shields, wearing Corinthian helmets. They are armed each with two spears and one sword. Behind each one, a tendril. Line and dots as ornaments. Red colour. Reassembled from fragments, complete. Slightly worn. Formerly coll. H. W., Switzerland, ac-quired 1980. Attic, ca. 510 B.C. CHF 16,000A BOWL WITH DECORATED RIM. Dm. 17 cm. Yel-low-green glass. Bell-shaped bowl standing on a low, flared foot decorated with fine diagonal grooves. Expan-sively flared mouth whose thick lip is offset by a ridge and furnished with fine puncture marks in places, the effect of which is to lend rhythm to the rim. Thin glass thread trailed round the underside of the mouth at the transition to the body. Silvery iridescence. Intact. Formerly Chris-topher Sheppard, London art market until 1980. New York art gallery until 1990. Priv. coll. Martin Wunsch, New York, 1980s-1990s. Roman, 3rd-4th cent. A.D. CHF 5,500A RIBBED BOWL. Dm. 15.6 cm. Pale green translucent glass. Robust glass bowl with thirty-four ribs arranged radially around the slightly raised base. The rounded rim is slightly off-set on the interior by a fine groove. Some-what further down the interior wall two further grooves. Mould-made. Interior ground smooth, exterior polished. Intact. Isings Form 3. Formerly Coll. Y. S., UK, acquired in the 1980s. Roman, 1st cent. A.D. CHF 3,400A BEAKER. H. 9.8 cm. Whitish glass. Biconical beaker with everted lip, rim rounded. Funnel-shaped foot with bonding scar. Slightly iridescent. Fine fissures. Former-ly in the collection of Saeed Motamed (1925-2013), ac-quired between 1953 and the early 1990s. Roman, East-ern Mediterranean, 3rd-4th cent. A.D. CHF 1,200Next >