Lifelike Poseidon

CNG 105, Lot: 199. Estimate $7500. Sold for $14000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MYSIA, Kyzikos. Circa 450-330 BC. EL Stater (17.5mm, 16.01 g). Poseidon, nude but for cloak hanging over his left shoulder, kneeling right, holding dolphin in extended right hand, left hand holding trident downward, on tunny right / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze I 146; Greenwell 6; cf. Boston MFA 1516 = Warren 1428 (hekte); SNG BN –; BMC 62; Gillet –; Gulbenkian –; Hunt II 462 = NAC 66, lot 50; Jameson –; Myrmekion 99; Rosen –; Weber –; M&M AG 47, lot 489. Good VF, a few light marks. Very rare, Greenwell noted only two examples (in the BM and a private collection), and only the Hunt piece in CoinArchives. Traité notes an example in Paris, but this is erroneous, and the illustration listed for that example is actually the BM coin.

This depiction of Poseidon is one of the most intriguing types of the Kyzikene series, since his pose is unusual compared to other coinages that typically depict him standing and holding his trident in a more authoritative manner. The latter stye is expected given the nature of the deity as a supreme lord over the seas, whereas here he is depicted in a lifelike pose. The composition of the scene suggests a subsequent action involving the dolphin, since his trident is held in a neutral fashion and his gaze is forward, as if he is preparing to place the dolphin into motion. As such, it seems that this is unlikely a commemoration of an event involving the city’s navy, but rather some scene tied to the city’s mythology.