Geometric I
Agate scepter head
Scepter and mace heads are well-attested Cypriot implements, but this example is exceptional in the magnificence of its material, which is matched by the precision of its execution. The head itself is set on an iron shaft. During the Late Geometric and Archaic periods, rulers of the major centers of Cyprus gained considerable wealth from natural resources, notably copper, and from active trade, in which the Phoenicians were conspicuous. The luxurious and finely wrought objects with which these kinds surrounded themselves are particularly well represented by this scepter and by the bowls in precious metals exhibited nearby. length 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Date
950 - 900 BC
Accession No.
74.51.3001
Collection
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Provenance
References
- Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1903. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 3. pl. VI, 1, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 3001, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 308, p. 190, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Tatton-Brown, Veronica. 2000. "The New Galleries of Cypriot Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Apollo, 152: p. 4, fig. 3.Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 272, pp. 235, 460, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Del Bufalo, Dario. 2016. Murrina Vasa : A Luxury of Imperial Rome, Biblioteca di Archeologia, 53. no. 289, p. 139, Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider.
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