Posted 9 years ago
Ericocon
(15 items)
Unpacked another weird item of my fathers today and have no idea what it really is? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Well thanks to vetriao50 giving me a couple of suggestions, I think I figured what this is out.
it appears to be a Greek Griffen, as my research has shown numerous pictures along with the fact the Greek Griffen had the knob on the head,
I will take this to mean this was made in Greece at some point. Now if I could only find out who the maker is and the period in which it was made.
It appears to be made of brass, with a marble base, has no markings on it anywhere. Quite heavy for the size weighing in just shy of 2 pounds.
That include the marble base, but the base is not all that heavy.
Measures approx. 7 1/2" from the base of the marble.
Actual statue measure about 6"
At first glance I thought of a Gryphon. But that knop on the head makes me think of Indian iconography. Very interesting !!!!!
Thanks a million vetraio50, at least now I can begin to search some.
I find it a strange item for my father to have had, not something he collected.
For sure a Griffen, found many similar ones.
Thanks again Vetraio50, I will keep searching and see if I can find one the same, with any information, such as maker, when it was made and where.
Pretty similar in looks...
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/gr/b/bronze_griffin_head.aspx
The way that the griffin was adopted and adapted by Greek artists is typical of the Orientalizing movement. Griffins of various types were found in Near Eastern art, but in Greece a distinctively Greek type evolved, with a lion's body, eagle's beak, hare's ears and a knob or spike on the brow.
Well done ERICOCON!
A Greek form? That I never knew. In my youth I was in a rock group here in Sydney that I had called Gryphon. We used the image on our drum kit. I had done some work on the Griffin too at university.
There's another version here:
http://www.souvenirsfromgreece.com/images/griffin_bronze1.jpg
And another here:
http://archaicwonder.tumblr.com/post/77323442190/greek-bronze-griffin-protome-c-late-7th-century
Greek Bronze Griffin Protome, c. late 7th century BC. From the shoulder of a large bronze cauldron.
That gives you the word 'protome'.
Protome: an adornment on utensils or works of art in the form of a frontal view of an animal head or bust of a human.
At the Getty:
http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/29538/unknown-maker-griffin-protome-greek-about-650-bc/
Check out the similarities between yours and the one in the British Museum:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_image.aspx?image=ps321798.jpg&retpage=17950
There's this one in Phoenix :
http://www.phoenixancientart.com/work-of-art/griffin-protome
In Boston:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact?name=Boston+50.144+a-d&object=sculpture
Harvard ....
http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/304136
I've read along the way that Jantzen suggests the island of Samos as the site of origin.
At Sotheby's :
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/antiquities-n08918/lot.8.html
I wonder if yours is a copy?
What on earth did your father do?
Was he a 'serious collector' of antiquities????
Cool...
Here is one that an artist makes and lists on Ebay by they are a bronze.
He told me in a message that they are reproduced based on a Museum piece but didn't tell me the Museum.
His are reasonably new. Still great piece of work.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Griffin-on-Marble-Base-Bronze-Item-Ancien-t-Art-Hand-Made-in-Greece/321285298237?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20141121090453%26meid%3D5628c2ecf3ae4b5eb7115548628a806b%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D111658343095
vetraio50, my father was a professional photographer, my Mother and him toured the world, taking pictures for different mags and newspapers.
So they both collected things, and that is only the half of it... boarder line hoarders they were to be honest. Besides the farmhouse and the barns, my sister and I are dealing with 3 large storage lockers full on stuff!
Some are cool, some are junk, some we just sold to some dealers we know and trust. Certainly with all his real expensive equipment.
I could fill the board up with junk LOL on a daily basis :-)
I would think this is a reproduction piece though, probably bought at a Greek antique store at some point. Knowing my parents, they probably visited a museum and saw this exact piece, then had to have this one...
Who knows what they paid for it, or even why I never remember it being displayed in the house. Probably something to do with religion as on my mothers side, they are very religious and probably would never take the fact that these were not devils Lol. So in the box it gets packed, until my sis and I unpack it.