Dies by the Maestro della Foglia

374, Lot: 126. Estimate $200. Sold for $180. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Piakos. Circa 420-400 BC. Æ Tetras or Trionkion (14.5mm, 2.45 g, 9h). Dies by the Maestro della Foglia (Master of the Leaf). Horned and wreathed head of river-god left; three pellets (mark of value) to left / Hound attacking stag right; barley grain to left. Boehringer, Frühen, p. 165, 1–6 (obv. die V1); Campana 2; CNS 2; HGC 2, 1101. VF, green and brown patina, some smoothing. Very rare.

From the David Wray Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 246 (15 December 2010), lot 7.

The similarity and refinement of style with the celebrated maestro della foglia Apollo-head issues of Katane (cf. SNG ANS 1254-6), which depict the Olympian as a mature young man with a sullen expression, led to the speculation by Rizzo, with which Jenkins concurred, that the same ‘artist of the leaf’ was responsible for both issues. This stylistic link provides the only chronological evidence for this issue.