Basel Ancient Art Fair

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Very large Cypriot head of a bearded male, possibly representing a king or god. His hair is dressed in a fringe of tight locks beneath a laurel wreath and his beard in formal hooked curls he has a long moustache which falls over his beard.
5th century BC. 17.5" (444mm).
Nose and lower part of beard restored.
US private collection (acquired at auction in 1985), thence private New York State collection.

A very imposing piece. It has been suggested that these large-scale heads might represent the Achaemenid rulers of Cyprus; in any event the treatment of the hair is very reminiscent of Persian work of the period. Compare T. Spiteris The Art of Cyprus (London 1970) p.181 (for the features) and A. M.Nielsen Corpus of Cypriote Antiquities Vol.8 Cypriote Antiquities in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen (Gothenburg 1983) no.43 (for the beard).
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. Pair of European Bronze Age bronze armlets Narrow wound spirals, the outside edge with a strong middle rib, the upper end twisted at the rolled up ends. Ex private collection, Vienna, 1980s. Ca. 1000 BC. Ls. 4 1/2 in. (10.5 cm.) $4,500 HM1108 Royal Athena Galleries, New York
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BAAF by night
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