Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art
Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art
Property from a Swiss Private Collection
A GREEK BRONZE FIGURE OF A KOUROS DEDICATED TO APOLLO, LACONIAN, MID 6TH CENTURY B.C.
Auction Closed
December 3, 05:06 PM GMT
Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from a Swiss Private Collection
A GREEK BRONZE FIGURE OF A KOUROS DEDICATED TO APOLLO, LACONIAN, MID 6TH CENTURY B.C.
standing on a rectangular base with his left leg advanced and both forearms extended, and formerly holding an implement in his right hand, his face with smiling mouth, almond-shaped eyes, and arched eyebrows in relief, his hair arranged in a single row of spiral curls over the forehead, plaited, bound in a fillet, and falling in twin braids over each shoulder and six braids over the nape of the neck and upper back, the pubic hair incised, the top of the base engraved in front and on one side with a Greek votive inscription to Apollo (ΑΠΕΛΟΝ ΕΥΑΜΠΙ), the second word still defying interpretation, the base with two rivet holes in the corners.
Height 18.3 cm
Leo Mildenberg (1913-2001), Zurich
Leo Biaggi de Blasys (1906-1979), Lugano, acquired from the above in 1960
by descent to the present owner
In a manuscript note written in French on the back of a photograph of this figure and dated February 5th, 1960, Ernst Langlotz categorized the object as Laconian and dated it to the mid 6th Century B.C. For Laconian bronze kouroi in general see C. Stibbe, Agalmata. Studien zur griechisch-archaischen Bronzekunst, 2006, pp. 269ff.
This lot appears as no. 3 in a partial inventory of the Leo Biaggi de Blasys Collection, Lausanne, Switzerland, January 25th, 1982.